Albus Potter and the Assassinator's Quest
by Crystalline Iridescentia
Summary: In his third year, Albus Severus Potter learns that a power-hungry wizarding group has been scheming to destroy the world ever since the start of time. These wizards are planning to surface after uncountable years of hiding, and they want Albus among them... if only to use him and his powers as a pawn in a chess game—a perilous game in which the pawn must be sacrificed. Book 3/7.
1. From Three to Thirteen

**I HIGHLY suggest you read the first two books first. They can be found on my profile.**

**A longer plot summary, if you're interested:**

_By the time he reaches his third year, Albus is sick and tired of always being in danger. He resolves to keep his nose in his own business, but finds that his actions of the past two years cannot be taken back. He made someone very, very angry. He made someone desperately want him dead. And now, that someone has sent a dangerous assassin after him—an assassin that seems to be able to control the very ground. In addition to this, a mysterious, ruthless group that has been hiding in the shadows for one thousand years is planning to surface at long last. They want Albus to be their secret weapon—the ultimate killing machine. As he deals with school drama, such as fighting with his brother for the girl they both want, friendships falling apart, and a fierce competition between the students, he realizes that he is teetering on the thin boundary between good and evil, and that he may simply be a pawn in a deadly, dangerous game of chess._

_A game where the pawn must be sacrificed._

**And now, I present to you...**

* * *

**~Albus Potter and the Assassinator's Quest~**

_Book 3_

**Based on the ideas and places of JK Rowling.**

* * *

**TABLE OF CONTENTS**

_**Chapter One**_

FROM THREE TO THIRTEEN

_ooo_

_**Chapter Two**_

IN THE NEWSPAPERS

_ooo_

_**Chapter Three**_

RENDEZVOUS POINT

_ooo_

_**Chapter Four**_

TERRAXES AND TUTTERSKOPE

_ooo_

_**Chapter Five**_

THE SERPENT WITHIN

_ooo_

_**Chapter Six**_

THE ASSASSINATOR'S SISTER

_ooo_

_**Chapter Seven**_

THE FIREBOLT'S LAST FLIGHT

_ooo_

_**Chapter Eight**_

THE COLORFUL COMPETITION

_ooo_

_**Chapter Nine**_

TEAM GOLDEN PRIDE

_ooo_

_**Chapter Ten**_

HORRORS OF HALLOWEEN

_ooo_

_**Chapter Eleven**_

THE MUD FIGHT

_ooo_

_**Chapter Twelve**_

THE CRIMSON REGIMENT

_ooo_

_**Chapter Thirteen**_

TROUBLE ON THE TRAIN TRACKS

_ooo_

_**Chapter Fourteen**_

WEASLEY WOES

_ooo_

_**Chapter Fifteen**_

THE VERY SECRET MAP

_ooo_

_**Chapter Sixteen**_

VALENTINE'S DAY

_ooo_

_**Chapter Seventeen**_

THE PRODITOR PREDATOR

_ooo_

_**Chapter Eighteen**_

THE SPY MISSION

_ooo_

_**Chapter Nineteen**_

A KILLER'S INSTINCT

_ooo_

_**Chapter Twenty**_

CAPTURE THE KISS

_ooo_

_**Chapter Twenty-One**_

THE BLACKOUT

_ooo_

_**Chapter Twenty-Two**_

THE EARTH KING

_ooo_

_**Chapter Twenty-Three**_

A PAWN TO SACRIFICE

_ooo_

_**Chapter Twenty-Four**_

THE INCOMPLETE QUEST

* * *

**-Chapter One-**

**From Three to Thirteen**

TEN YEARS AGO

It was a perfectly ordinary day in the village of Godric's Hollow. The sun shone brightly, and the wizard and muggle children played together, the latter unaware of their playmates' magic. Young couples walked around the park in which teenagers were kicking a soccer ball around, and everyone seemed to be happy—which was usual in Godric's Hollow.

A woman in a stifling cloak made her way across the park, waving at a few children on the way. She had a smile on her face, but it was only there to hide anxiety behind it. The woman was wearing the typical Healer uniform, and she was at the village of Godric's Hollow on Healer business.

But she wasn't really a Healer. It had been difficult trying to get the job of seeing the middle child of Harry Potter, and all the Healers had been fighting over it. So, the woman had Confunded them all and taken the job instead. It wasn't because she was selfish and wanted to meet the famous Potters. It was because she wanted to meet one Potter in particular—Albus Severus Potter. The three-year-old boy was an enigma, a real mystery.

And the woman knew that there was only one explanation for this: Albus Severus Potter was the _new_ Paradox. She finally reached a fairly large but friendly-looking house on the outskirts of the town. Slightly nervous, she knocked on the door. It opened immediately, and the woman wondered if someone had been waiting behind it for the last hour. Ginny Potter stood behind the door, her hair ruffled slightly.

"Hello! You must be Linda Dawson!" said Ginny, wringing her fingers nervously. "Thank you for coming to see Al! Come in..." Ginny stepped aside to let the woman in.

Of course, the woman wasn't Linda Dawson. The identity was a fake, and she had only made it to meet Albus Potter, who she was so desperate to see. She needed to know if the boy was the new Paradox—the only person powerful enough to battle against an unimaginable evil and win.

"Harry's playing with James," Ginny said. "Perhaps you should meet the family... yes. Al is out in the backyard—I don't think he'll come in, sorry." Ginny led the woman into the parlor, which was very messy.

Magazines littered the coffee table (Most of them on Quidditch) and magical toys were scattered across the floor. A red-haired one-year-old girl was giggling and playing with miniscule versions of the Golden Trio and the Death Eaters. It was a very violent scene.

"Lily," Ginny muttered. "My youngest." Ginny looked around the sofa and pulled out a four-year-old throwing a very obvious tantrum while whacking around his toy broomstick.

"MUM! I WANNA GO TO UNCLE GEORGE'S!" screamed the boy. His jet black hair was infinitely messy, and his light brown eyes gazed at the woman curiously.

"Where's your father?" Ginny demanded. To the woman, she said, "This is James, my oldest."

The woman nodded and gave James a smile. James grinned back, the dimples on his cheeks showing, clearly not shy. He would be very good-looking and popular in a few years.

"I want ice-cream!" James whined, answering his mother's question in the most unhelpful way possible. Or perhaps, it wasn't an answer at all.

Ginny was saved by her husband. "Oh—the Healer came, then?" asked Harry Potter, poking his head out of the kitchen. His glasses were askew, and he was levitating a tub of ice-cream, clearly for James.

"Harry, put that back. James will make a mess, and we have a guest," Ginny snapped, ignoring her oldest son's screams of fury as Harry obediently went back into the kitchen.

A moment later, he came back out ice-cream free. "Hello, you must be Linda Dawson. Al is out in the backyard."

"Should we tell you a bit of background?" Ginny asked anxiously.

The woman nodded pleasantly, sitting down on the sofa. Lily looked up curiously and stopped moving the miniscule Hermione and the miniscule Bellatrix, both of which had been strangling each other a second before. (Hermione had been winning.) Ginny and Harry sat down as well, both looking worried.

"Al is a strange boy," began Ginny. "I'm sure you know about his birth?"

The woman nodded again.

"We'll understand if you don't manage to fix him," Harry interrupted.

Ginny sighed. "Well, I suppose I should tell you the problem if Harry's going to be so blunt. Al won't talk. He won't show emotion. He's just _blank. _We don't know what he's thinking."

"The only times he shows emotion is when he's attacking James or exploding something," Harry added. "And he looks _happy_ then."

"It's not that he can't speak—according to St. Mungo's testing, his intelligence level is very, _very_ high. But Al just doesn't _want_ to speak. He won't do anything. He won't play with anyone or anything," Ginny continued.

"I can fix that," the woman said. Both Harry and Ginny looked extremely relieved.

"Thank you, Linda," Ginny said hurriedly. She hopped off the sofa and led the woman to the back door, which was open.

The woman smiled and walked out. The garden was huge and full of plants of all kinds. Flame-orange flowers opened and closed bizarrely in one corner, and pumpkins the size of carthorses thrived in another. To the woman's surprise, there was a bush abundant with strange radish-like fruit. The sign next to it said:

**STAY AWAY FROM THE DIRIGIBLE PLUMS**

Heeding the warning, the woman skirted around the bush and walked out into the middle of the yard. Finally, she saw the boy she had come for.

Albus Severus Potter was very skinny and pale, with a fair amount of freckles on his nose. Unlike his brother, he wasn't roguishly cute. (Or remotely cute at all, which was strange for young children.) Instead, there was a monotone look on his face. But his eyes told a different story; they were bright green and intelligent.

Albus looked up as the woman approached. He had been stroking a long serpent, but it slithered underneath the nearest bush as soon as it noticed her. The boy raised himself from his sleeping position on the ground and crossed his legs. He stared up at her blankly.

"So... you've been driving your parents mad," the woman said.

Albus said nothing.

The woman felt a twinge of annoyance. "You'll speak to snakes, but you can't speak to your parents?"

Albus still said nothing.

Deciding to try a different tactic, the woman sat down on the grass, not caring if her robes got dirty. She leaned down and looked into the three-year-old boy's eyes. "You're a powerful kid, aren't you? Nearly destroyed the whole of St. Mungo's while you were there. You wouldn't stop glowing bright green and shooting lightning out of your palms."

Albus almost smiled.

Triumphant that she had gotten some response—however small—from the boy, the woman continued. "And you hurt your brother. So, do you like him?"

Albus truly smiled—rather sinisterly. He shook his head.

The woman could not believe that she had gotten the boy to shed his blank look so quickly. "Your brother seemed very spoiled to me. He likes getting what he wants. Do you get what you want, Al?"

Albus shook his head again. The blank look was back on his face.

Annoyed, the woman snapped, "That's too bad. Most of us don't get what we want. If you're who I think you are, you certainly won't get what you want. It's the occupational hazard of being a hero."

Albus looked a bit puzzled now. He cocked his head to the side, staring up at the woman.

"A hero, you ask? Well, I don't know. You remind me a bit of a villain. Well, you're the new Paradox, so you're a dark essence. You're not exactly human."

Albus looked even more confused than before. He stood up and started to walk away, but the woman wouldn't let him. She stood up and walked in front of him, casting a dark shadow over him. He looked up, an expression of the utmost anger on his face.

"You'll stay here and listen to me," said the woman. "I'm not scared of you, even if you are one of the two most powerful wizards in the world."

Albus looked even angrier.

"You're nothing but a weak coward who can't tell his parents that he loves them. You don't mind causing them sleepless nights, do you? And I wonder how the fate of the entire world could rest on the shoulders of a boy so selfish."

"I can talk," Albus said softly, looking hurt. He clearly had a better knowledge of the English language than other three-year-olds. "I'm not selfish."

"If you're not, why don't you prove it?" snarled the woman. "I'm a member of a group that wishes to save the world from a terrible evil. And you're the only one who can help us. I came to see whether it really was you, and it certainly is. Then why don't you act the part of a hero?"

Albus narrowed his eyes in fury, but there was a look of a determination on his face as well. "I will!" With that, the three-year-old boy ran off in the direction of the house. The woman followed him, quite pleased with herself.

Albus ran into his surprised father's arms, whispering, "I love you, Dad." He turned to his mother and clutched her as well. "I love you, Mum."

"AL!" gasped Ginny, pulling her son into a bone-crushing hug. "Oh, Al..."

"I believe my work here is done," said the woman smugly.

"How can we ever repay you?" asked Harry.

"Oh, there's no need, thanks."

"We'll send a present to you," said Ginny quickly, ignoring the woman's protests. "Linda Dawson, right?"

The woman—who was not Linda Dawson at all—simply smiled. "It's been interesting to meet Albus. I expect he and I will see each other again. Maybe even at _Hogwarts_..." With that promise, the woman swept out of the house.

When Harry and Ginny would send a nice bouquet of flowers to St. Mungo's a few days later, they would find out that no Linda Dawson had ever worked there.

* * *

SIX YEARS AGO

A seven-year-old boy with dark hair and bright green eyes sat at the foot of his bed, a book propped open on his lap. He was reading again, so immersed in his book that he had forgotten what day it was. This particular book had been extremely hard to get, since it mentioned Dark Magic. He had spent days raiding his Aunt Hermione's library. Determined to read the only books that he hadn't read yet, he had stolen the key to her mini restricted section and taken as many as his scrawny arms could carry. He knew that he only had a few precious days until she realized their disappearance, and he was going to use them.

And so, it completely slipped his mind that it was his seventh birthday. Immersed in the secrets of Dark Magic, he couldn't think about anything else. He was so thirsty for information that he didn't even feel the slightest bit guilty. His parents didn't know, or suspect any foul play. He was the quiet child, the middle Potter who was always forgotten and ignored. Nobody paid attention to him; he was like a shadow, flitting in and out of their lives. Half the time, his head was in the clouds, thinking about a universe where he was special—not the least liked member of the family.

Albus checked the clock on his desk to see that it was six o'clock in the morning. Fair enough. He'd been reading since three o'clock in the morning, and had digested about four books already. This morning, he'd be able to return to his aunt's library and slip the books he had borrowed (without permission) to their places, and nobody would be any the wiser. He often operated in secrecy. Sometimes, he'd tell his cousin, Rose, who he felt was really his only friend. She'd even helped him in getting into her mother's library. Now, he felt a stab of guilt. He hadn't told her that he was going to take books that mentioned Dark Magic. He knew that his aunt never read them, but kept them away from prying eyes. Unfortunately for her, she hadn't realized that Albus—who was so innocent and quiet on the outside—would ever be interested in things as dark as what these books mentioned.

He continued reading, still feeling no guilt. Half an hour later, he had read the book cover to cover. It was the last book in his pile. Disappointed, as he had just run out of things to read, Albus ripped open a floorboard beneath his desk, and dumped all the books there. This was his temporary hiding place, but there was nothing in here—other than a few slips of paper filled with doodles. What was on portrayed on the doodles was far too embarrassing to admit—pictures of him saving the world, brandishing a sword, and leading an army.

Albus contemplated them for a moment, flipping through them. He wasn't the best artist, and his penmanship was quite shoddy. His green gaze rested on one of the pictures, which featured an unmistakable bespectacled boy in the front of a crowd of people. These people were his family, and they were all looking at him with admiration and pride.

Something that they had never before looked at him with.

He sighed, crumpling up the picture and the rest of the doodles. It wasn't going to happen. None of his deepest desires would come true. He was always going to be the loser, the one shunted aside.

After replacing the floorboard, he stood up and dusted off his pajamas. Albus had a very acute memory when his head wasn't buried in books or daydreams, and he immediately remembered that it was his birthday—his seventh one. He felt his heart sink slightly. His perfect older brother, James, had been taunting him for the last month. James seemed bent on the fact that Albus was a Squib, since Albus never showed off his magical talent like the rest of the children. James stole every opportunity to levitate things, while Lily's temper made her occasionally set things on fire. Albus, however, was very calm and hadn't shown off any magic in front of others.

Even so, he could remember events in his past where he had used magic to hurt people that he loved. His mother had been giving him a bath once, and had been shocked with a bolt of bright green lightning. His father had once scolded him for stealing one of James's stupid toys, and Albus's resulting tantrum had caused the fireplace to blow up and heavy debris to rain down on his father.

Terrified of seriously hurting someone, Albus had locked his power inside him by the age of three. James and Lily no longer remembered how dangerous his magic could really be, since they had been too young, but the damage was done. His parents knew. In fact, they had probably known before, just when he had been born. He had overheard conversations in which his parents and relatives discussed his birth. Apparently, he had nearly brought the whole hospital down and had put several Healers in the hospital, too.

Albus studied his hands. They were small, his fingers thin. He could almost imagine them right now: tendrils of emerald lightning, or flames of bright green fire, dancing between his fingertips, destroying whatever they touched...

No. He closed his hands into fists. Never again.

Trying to take his mind off his powers, he dressed into clothes that he thought were appropriate for the occasion. Meaning: he had dressed in whatever was within reach in his closet and didn't care at all what he wore. Unfortunately, he found his thoughts returning to his brother's words. Albus knew that he wasn't a Squib, but James and the rest of the Weasley children didn't. In fact, even the adults were beginning to suspect that he had somehow lost his immense magical power. Ever since he was three, he hadn't displayed the slightest bit of magic. He kept his temper in check, walked away from fights, and stayed in the shadows.

As such, James and the rest of the Weasley children assumed that he indeed was a Squib, since they certainly couldn't remember his past incidents. He let them think it. He knew that he wasn't a Squib, and that was enough for him.

He was far more powerful than any of them. Maybe even all of them put together.

Smirking slightly, he descended to the kitchen. He didn't expect anyone to be awake. He was possibly the only boy in the world who was up so early in the morning by his own will. To his surprise, however, his parents were both awake. The scent of perfectly buttered toast reached his nostrils, and he breathed in. His favorite breakfast.

"Happy birthday, Al! This is your day!" said his father, throwing an arm around him as he took a seat at the dining table.

"It's your day, too, Dad. Happy birthday," said Albus, grinning. He and his father shared the same birthday, even though they were born twenty-three hours and fifty-nine minutes apart. His father's birthday had been precisely at midnight, but Albus would only turn seven at 11:59 tonight.

"The rest of the family's coming over," said Ginny, running over to wrap her middle son in a hug. "It'll be like a traditional Weasley gathering!"

Albus smiled, but it was strained. He knew that most of the family was only coming over for Harry's birthday. Albus wasn't nearly as popular among them.

His parents noticed that his smile never reached his eyes. "Al, are you all right?" his father asked.

"Y-Yeah," Albus stammered. He took a bite of his toast, chewing slowly to savor it. It was delicious as always, but there was a sick feeling in his stomach. He knew how this was going to go. The Weasley children would try to be nice to him, get annoyed when he didn't respond to their efforts, and go off to play on their own.

Albus really and truly tried to bond with his cousins, but wasn't able to. He didn't see eye-to-eye with them. He felt that they were a completely different species. How were they so close to each other? How did they play their games? What were the secrets of their inside jokes? Why wouldn't they include him?

What was it about him that they didn't like? His shyness? His coldness? The glint in his eye that he got sometimes? His habit of driving them away without meaning to?

He felt lost. What was wrong with him? Why did _nobody_ like him? Albus blinked tears from his eyes.

"Al, honey?" His mother's voice was hushed. "Al, is something wrong?"

"T-They'll play with me, right?" Albus blurted out. He immediately blanched. Why had he said that? He was going to get them in trouble. It wasn't their fault that he was an outcast who couldn't talk to people without pushing them away. They had tried to befriend him, tried to include him in the family, but it just hadn't worked out.

He wasn't like the rest of them. As long as he knew that and believed it, he couldn't belong.

"Of course they'll play with you," said Harry. "Just ask!"

"You're finally going to play with them?" His mother looked delighted. "Al, they'll love you. They just haven't seen the real you yet."

Albus went even paler. The real him. What was that? Was that the personality buried beneath this mask of shyness and stutters? The ambition, cunning, and ruthlessness that lay within?

They would hate that even more. No, he was better off keeping this mask on. He could already imagine it. He would go to Hogwarts, get Sorted into Gryffindor, keep his head down, go through all seven years without showing his true personality. The one, he felt, didn't belong in Gryffindor at all. He'd remain a shadow, an outcast, his name forgotten. The Forgotten Potter, he'd be. He felt sick.

But what if he didn't follow in everyone else's footsteps? What if he broke away from the path he was supposed to follow? What if he took the mask off and showed them what he really could do?

But they'd all hate him otherwise. He didn't want them to hate him. The mask was staying on. Forever.

"Thanks, Mum," said Albus quietly. His parents gave him worried looks, but dropped the subject.

The rest of the morning passed quickly. His five-year-old sister had wished him a happy birthday, but then had demanded their parents to give her presents, too, even though her birthday wasn't until September. James had come down last, knocked Albus's head playfully into the table, and wished happy birthday to both of him and his father.

James meant well—he really did. He always teased Albus—but that was all it was. _Teasing. _Sometimes, it hurt, but Albus didn't let it get to him. He knew that James was disappointed to have a brother that was so quiet and boring. James had probably wanted a mischievous little brother that would've been a friend to him. Unfortunately, they were polar opposites, and could never really be friends.

They didn't hate each other, and were civil to each other. James teased him, pranked him, and called him names. But it was all in good fun. James wasn't a cruel person. He was the favorite young Potter, the Golden Boy, the one who would become the hero. He was brave, reckless, had an admirable temper, and showed all the qualities of his father. He was one of the best Seekers in history, even beating their father. James was perfect, and he was never mean to anybody. Someone that perfect wasn't _capable_ of being mean.

Albus's lip trembled. James wasn't a disappointment. Unlike Albus.

"Al, are you sure you're okay?" his father asked.

Albus nodded quickly and took his brother's present. "It's a broom cleaning kit," said James before his brother could unwrap it. "So you can trim my broom for me! You'll be my personal slave!"

Albus looked at the ground. "T-Thanks." He didn't mean it. James was perfect, the hero, the gifted one. Albus was barely fit to wipe his shoes. Everyone loved James, and everyone ignored Albus. Maybe if he _did_ become his brother's slave, he'd be noticed. He could imagine the headlines now: ALBUS POTTER, THE FAMOUS JAMES SIRIUS POTTER'S UNPAID SERVANT. Scratch that—he wasn't even worthy of being his brother's slave. He was like an insignificant speck of dirt, or something icky that had gotten stuck to the bottom of someone's shoe, or even a parasite—a kind of leech or louse.

He tried to keep the tears away. Why was this turning out to be such a horrible birthday? It was only eight o'clock in the morning! He needed to keep his head. Now was not the time to beat himself down, even if he deserved it.

He would never be as good as the rest of them. They were good people, people that helped others. They were brave, they were heroic, they were _legendary_.

What was Albus's destiny? To really be his brother's slave? His father's shadow? His family's disappointment? He wasn't as good as them, as anyone else. There were no heroics in his destiny. They only existed in his stupid, childish dreams—those drawings that he'd never let anyone else see.

"James! What a terrible thing to say!" Ginny gasped. "Why would you get him that if he doesn't have a broomstick?"

James shrugged. "Like I said, he's going to help me with mine. He doesn't mind, right? It's not like he's good at anything else. Right, Al?" James fixed him with a playful glare.

'_It's not like he's good at anything else.'_

That was right. Albus was nothing. "Mum, Dad, it doesn't matter," he muttered. "I don't mind. I'll help him with his broomstick."

That was all Albus was good for. They all thought so, too.

Harry and Ginny didn't look pleased at this, but they let it go. James beamed. "Hey, we're playing a game today. Bet you anything I catch the Snitch again! I always do! Hey, Al, if you want, you can take a spin on my broom. You won't be as good as _me._ In fact, you'd totally suck."

"James, watch what you're saying," Ginny said automatically. "I'm sure Albus will be an excellent flyer."

Albus's lip was trembling again. He probably would suck. He had never been flying before. James was right, and much better at everything.

And then, something took control of him. He sat there, letting the feeling take control of his thoughts. He imagined himself flying around, catching the Snitch, being better than his brother, who was a Quidditch prodigy. Albus could win. He could be better. These wonderful feelings—determination, ambition, the feelings that he'd stomped on and locked away—came back in that exhilarating moment. His eyes glinted. He would be better than his brother, better than everybody else. He'd rise above them and show them what he could do.

But, as soon as it came, it went away. What a silly thought. Better than James? That wasn't even possible.

"Yeah, sure, James," Albus mumbled. "I'd like to take a ride. But you'd still be better." _Better than me. Worth so much more than me._ "I'll be cheering for you. You'll be great." _But I won't ever be._

His parents looked uncertain at his willingness to submit to his brother's words. He knew they wanted to stand up for him, but how could they if _he_ couldn't stand up for _himself_?

After that, the rest of the day passed as he had expected. His relatives came over, handed him presents, wished him and his father a happy birthday, and began the party. They were sent to play in the backyard while the adults set up, and the numerous Weasley-Potter children (plus Teddy) gathered in a corner. Albus sat a little farther away from them, half of his face cloaked in shadows.

Teddy grinned. He was fifteen, and the oldest. "Albie, it's your birthday. How about you decide what we should do?"

Albus felt his heart leap. They were going to include him? They were going to play with him? "Er—s-sure—" he stuttered. "I-I—m-maybe we should—er—" They were all looking at him, their faces expectant and friendly. What should he suggest they do? What did they like? Albus liked reading. He liked observing. He liked thinking, dreaming, and even scheming.

But _they_ liked pranking, joking around, playing games. What could he choose? What would make them happy? What would make them accept him?

"Decide already!" James snapped.

Albus blanched. He was already making them angry! What should he do? James was glaring at him. He clearly didn't like that someone else was making the decisions.

"Let him take his time," said Rose calmly, stroking Albus's shoulder. "Al, you can choose anything you want. It's your birthday. It's your special day. What we do is up to you! You can boss us around!"

Albus shook his head. The pressure was too much. His brother was still glaring at him. Albus gulped and felt his heart sink to his feet. "W-We could p-play Quidditch?" His voice shook horribly.

Rose looked confused, and so did Teddy. "But you don't play," he spluttered.

"Who cares?" James shouted. "Al likes watching, doesn't he? That's why he picked it."

Albus sighed with relief. He had chosen. Even if he hadn't wanted to, he had chosen what they had all wanted. So what if it was his birthday? It wasn't about him. Nothing was about him.

The game was just as Albus had expected it. James caught the Snitch in record time, was congratulated, and stole the spotlight (not that it had ever been anyone else's).

And Albus was forgotten. As he always was.

At dinner, his whole family sat down at a table they'd assembled outside. It was like a picnic—a very large picnic. It would have been wonderful if Albus hadn't been so miserable. They all sang happy birthday to him and handed him presents. He and his father both blew out the candles.

Albus wished to be a hero. He watched the candles hopefully as they flickered and went out.

Nothing happened. Nothing at all.

After that, they all gulped down the cake. Albus wasn't hungry. Once they were done eating, they retreated into the house to swap old stories. Uncle Ron was recounting (for the tenth time) his many heroic tales, while Harry blushed every time someone complimented him. Albus sat on the sofa and stared out the window. Crickets were chirping somewhere, thriving in the warm summer environment.

"How was your birthday?" his mother asked, kissing him on the forehead.

"Great," he lied. It wasn't their fault. It wasn't their fault that he was so lonely all the time. They had all tried their best. There was something wrong with _him_, not them.

After his mother left, Rose sat next to him and chatted with him, bringing up the book she had bought for him. "You loved my present right?" She hugged him tightly. "Oh, when I saw it—I thought it was perfect—you're going to have so much fun reading it—did you have a nice party, Al?—you liked it, didn't you?" She blabbered on.

Albus grinned. Rose was the only person he could call a friend. Unfortunately, Rose was so tired that she fell asleep on his shoulder. He didn't move her. A few minutes later, Aunt Hermione picked her up, laid her out on the ground, and wrapped her tightly in blankets. Rose wasn't the only one who was tired, though. Many of the Weasley children were very young, their ages still in the single digits, and ten o'clock was far past their bedtime.

James, however, was still wide awake. He, Fred, and Louis were setting off fireworks inside the house, heartily encouraged by the most 'responsible' and 'serious' adult in the house, Uncle George. The fireworks were so loud and bright that they woke up both Hugo and Lily, who started crying. Irritated that his fun had been squashed, James sat down next his little brother.

"So, how was your birthday?" James asked, rubbing Albus's skull with his knuckles.

It hurt, but Albus kept his mouth closed.

"Tired, eh? You're such a baby," James snickered.

Albus still didn't say anything.

"So, you're seven now," said James, narrowing his eyes playfully. "And you haven't shown any magic at all! You're definitely a Squib."

"I-I've shown magic," said Albus automatically. "I'm not a Squib."

"Oh, really?" James chuckled. "How come we haven't seen it, then? _I've_ got so much that it's almost overwhelming. I'm a really powerful wizard. But you—you've got _nothing_!"

"I-I've g-got magic." Albus's voice wavered, but he wasn't sure why. He was firm in the belief that he was a wizard. Perhaps Albus's voice was shaking with _anger_.

'_But you—you've got _nothing_!_' James had said. If only he knew how powerful Albus_ really_ was...

"See, look, I can show you right now!" James smirked in a self-satisfied manner. "I'm a magical prodigy! Everyone says so!" He focused on a flowerpot a few feet away. The flowers detached themselves from the vase and flew around, whirring like helicopter wings. In a magical family, this wasn't so strange, so no one batted an eyelash.

"That's great," said Albus blandly.

"Why don't you try?" James asked. "Bet you can't do it," he added smugly.

Albus bet that he could make the flowers do anything he wanted to—including shoving themselves up James's nose. But he had promised that he wouldn't show anyone his powers. He was getting angry now, though he wasn't sure why. James was just teasing. It was still infuriating, though. For some reason, Albus's fists were clenched. What was wrong with him? Why was he getting angry? It didn't happen anymore—so why was it back now?

"Even if you _are_ a wizard, you'll probably just be a bad one. You'll probably fail all your classes at Hogwarts!" James laughed. "I bet you can't even levitate a feather! I can do it already." He pointed at his forehead. "I'm _me_."

Albus was feeling even angrier. Why? What were these feelings? Determination? Ambition? Why were they suddenly back? He had pushed them away, had stomped on them, had made sure that he'd be a wallflower his whole life. But suddenly, he found himself thinking bizarre thoughts. He thought about levitating the entire house—_that'd_ show James. He thought about making all the lights turn off. He thought about making a storm, right there and then.

The house shook slightly. The lights flickered. The wind picked up and started to howl. No! What was happening? _STOP!_

The adults looked around in alarm and confusion. Albus struggled with himself as James gasped, "What was that? Why is the wind so loud? Is it raining?"

All the lights flickered off, one by one.

The floorboards started to creak. The house began to rock slightly.

It began to pour harder. Thunder boomed. Lightning flashed.

Albus's fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white and his nails were making indentations on his skin. He had to stop! Why was this happening?

It stopped. The rain disappeared as if it had never been, the house stopped rattling, and the lights quickly flickered on.

Harry went outside to investigate, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. Everyone was paused in fear. A few minutes later, however, everything settled down. Harry came back, though he was still on edge, and the party resumed.

"I'm going upstairs. Wanna come?" James asked Albus a few minutes later.

Albus shook his head. James was making him angry with all the teasing. Why, Albus wasn't quite sure. He had taken the teasing and pranks before without complaint. And, suddenly, he realized something. James wasn't teasing him. He was _insulting_ him.

The nearest flowerpot shattered, and everybody looked around again, alarmed. Albus was furious, more furious than he had ever been before.

_Calm down. Fix it._

The flowerpot reassembled itself perfectly, the flowers still intact.

"James, are you doing that?" asked his mother, watching the flowerpot.

Albus's scowl became more pronounced. Of course, they all assumed it was James.

"Yeah!" James jumped at the chance.

"Stop playing with it. You're scaring us," his mother chided.

James deflated. "Okay. But it was cool."

Albus was steaming at this point. It hadn't been James at all! _It was me_.

"Okay, if you're too much a baby to go up, I'll go. Fred! Louis! Let's go!" James called his two friends, and they went upstairs—most likely to go to their 'cool' hideout in the attic. They usually didn't let Albus in, which was fine with him. He remained on the sofa, smoldering in fury. His power was thudding through his veins as it always did, but this time, it was actually threatening to burst out. He clenched his fists tightly and tried to think of something else. He knew, deep inside, that he had the power to destroy the whole town without blinking an eye. He couldn't let that happen. He calmed himself down, and his heartbeat slowed.

But the peace didn't last. He heard stomping from upstairs and yells of shock. Albus wondered what James, Louis, and Fred were doing. Several people were thudding down the stairs, James at their head. He was struggling to hold a stack of thick books that Albus knew very well. His heart turned to ice. _No. _It couldn't be happening.

"Dad! You won't believe it!" James gasped. "You won't _believe_ it!"

Harry stood up, looking confused. "What's going on? What are those books?"

Albus's face had gone completely white. Those books that were on Dark Magic. He had left them underneath the floorboards in his room. And now, they had been discovered. James had been snooping around in his room!

"He's reading books on Dark Magic, Dad! _Al_'s reading about them!" James choked out. "I don't _believe_ it!"

Harry stared at the books, unseeing. Aunt Hermione leaped up, looking horrified. "Those are—_those_ books—I haven't seen them in _years_—how did he—"

Albus was trying to sink into the sofa. He wanted to be anywhere but here. His father turned to face him, expression cold. "What's the meaning of this, Al? Were you so desperate that you had to steal these terrible books from your aunt? You do realize that she locked them away for a reason, right?" His tone was sharp like knives, and it made Albus wince.

"D-Dad—" Albus wasn't sure what to say. Tears were forming behind his eyelids, threatening to leak out.

James was looking at him with open disgust. "I knew you were doing something strange. I knew you were different, but I didn't know that you were a _freak_!"

Albus stood, frozen. The word echoed around the room.

_Freak. Freak. Freak._

The fury was back at full speed. The anger bubbled inside him and filled him up with rage. His eyes were nothing but little green slits, narrowed with loathing that he had never shown before. James was perfect, the better one, the one who was wanted. Albus was the loser, the outcast, the _freak_. A terrible, evil power awoke in him, stronger than anything he had felt before. He'd show them. He'd show_ all_ of them. His eyes glinted sinisterly, and his green irises seemed to glow unnaturally. A faint emerald light surrounded him, brightening with every second.

The resulting shockwave from the small boy caused the house to literally _break._ The walls splintered and caved out, the floor cracked, the picture frames fell to the ground and shattered, and wood began to rain down from the falling ceiling. Scraps of paper, ornaments, pillows, books, and everything that was loose got caught in the furious wind that was blowing around Albus, a wind so strong that it wouldn't let anyone come near him. His home—the home that he had lived in for seven years—was falling apart in the space of ten seconds. Everyone tried to run outside, desperate to escape the destroyed house and the raining debris. As if a tape of the gradual erosion of a building over hundreds of years had been speeded up greatly, the house disintegrated before their very eyes.

James, who was leaping over wreckage hurriedly in order to reach safety, was almost to the backyard with the rest of the family—but Albus wouldn't let him reach it. His irises glowed brighter, and locked onto his target. There was a flash of blinding green light, and James was blasted into the crumbling wall with a sickening crack. The smile on Albus's face was delighted, sadistic, cruel beyond belief.

"AL!"

His father's panicked shout jerked Albus out of his sinister trance. The green light died away, but the house remained ruined. Exhaustion settled on him like a suffocating blanket, and his head spun and his knees shook, barely able to support his weight. He noticed his brother's broken body lying at the foot of the stairs and the rest of his relatives standing outside, expressions of utter shock on their faces. They were holding their children protectively, who were all staring at him, horrified. His relatives' glares were hostile, hurt, and fearful. They could have been killed, or seriously injured like poor James.

And it was all Albus's fault.

"What have you _done_?"

Tears began streaming down his face. He ran, trying to put as much distance between him and them as he possibly could. He ran, sobbing as if his life depended on it. He ran, hating himself. He ran, knowing that they would all hate him, too. He ran, knowing that whatever connection he'd had with them had been severed. He ran, knowing that he had allowed the terrible monster that lay slumbering within him to awaken and take over him. He ran, knowing that he had _become_ that very monster. He ran, knowing that he had _always_ been that monster.

As he ran out, the house began to rebuild itself. The walls were straightening themselves, the stairs were assembling themselves step by step, the picture frames and ornaments were flying back to their respective spots, ripped pages from books were gluing themselves back in, broken tables and chairs were fixing themselves, the ceiling was putting itself together like a puzzle on the ground and rising up, planks of wood were plastering themselves together perfectly, and even the smallest splinters were coming together seamlessly. The house speedily righted itself up on Albus's orders, but he still did not look back.

It began to rain harder than ever, as if the very sky itself was crying like the little seven-year-old boy.

* * *

FIVE YEARS AGO

Sixteen-year-old Billy Loomer was not a boy that ever believed in supernatural, otherworldly things. Of course, this belief clashed with the strange things that always happened in Godric's Hollow. There were always little boys and girls from certain mysterious families that did odd things and blabbered on and on about how they would 'hex' Billy to death with their 'wand' when they got one. He had to deal with _these_ freak children every now and then.

Billy had always had a hard life at home, and he rarely stayed at his house. When he went outside, he would look around for someone to hit. He often got angry like that. Soon, his reputation grew, and children quavered at his very name.

"He's that awful bully!"

"He beat up my little sister!"

"He's coming! RUN!"

Some other 'wannabes'—as he classified them—came to him and joined him in his efforts to let out his anger. Billy became that stereotypical bully who didn't care who he sent to the hospital and didn't get caught for it. He liked it. It made him feel better to make someone feel worse, and soon, it became his release. His gang was almost as terrifying as him. They were all big teenage boys with muscles and fists, but no brains. They went beyond beating little children up—they vandalized cars, smoked cigarettes in dark street corners, and experimented with drugs while ditching school. But beating up scrawny little kids was definitely Billy's favorite pastime. That was, until Billy was taught a lesson by his last victim.

When_ it_ had happened, Billy had not even remembered the sickly eight-year-old boy's name. Was it Alex? Adam? Albert? Perhaps it was something dumb like _Albus_. Billy didn't know, and he didn't care. What he _did_ know was that he liked to verbally insult and physically injure that skinny eight-year-old with the dorky round glasses. That kid annoyed him to no end—he was always reading something too big for him. Massive books with odd titles like _The Laws of Magic _and _The Encyclopedia of Dark Jinxes _and _A Potpourri of Potions. _What eight-year-old read books that big—and with such stupid titles, too? The kid was a complete freak, and Billy didn't like it.

The first time, he had given—Albus, was it?—a black-eye and had broken his glasses. The second time, he had stomped on his book and had thrown it into the pond. The third time, he had hung him upside down until his face turned blue and he had cried. After that, 'Albus' didn't go outside much, evidently terrified of being seriously injured—until the day when _it _had happened.

Billy had been strolling through the park, looking for a new victim. It was evening time, and most of the children had left for home already. However, there was one boy still sitting on one of the swings, reading a book so thick that Billy wondered how the little weakling had managed to carry it. Billy recognized the messy black hair, the nerdy glasses that constantly had to be pushed up the boy's nose, and the bright green eyes. Delighted, Billy strolled towards the swings, his brutish face splitting into a leer.

"Your glasses are crooked—want me to fix them for you?" Billy chuckled, standing menacingly over the small boy, who slowly looked up. It was purely hilarious to see that look of dawning horror on his face. He scrambled off the swing at top speed and made a run for it, but Billy had been expecting it. He grabbed the boy's shirt and pulled him back, ripping his book out of his hands.

"Think you're so smart, don't you?" Billy snarled, seizing the boy by his collar and holding him up in the air. "What're you reading about? Freak things? If I take your glasses, you won't be able to read, will you?"

"D—d-don't!" gasped the boy, flailing wildly in the air. "L-L-Let me g-go!"

"You won't scream, will you?" cackled Billy, tightening his grip on the boy. "If you do, I'll have to squeeze your throat. That won't be good, will it?"

The boy made a strangled whimpering noise—the very noise that Billy loved.

"Answer me," Billy coaxed. When the boy said nothing, Billy shook him like a rag doll. "ANSWER ME, YOU WORM!"

"N-No!" sobbed the boy. "P-Please—please—"

"That's right," Billy sneered. "Snivel and cry. It makes you look less ugly." He dropped the boy on the ground, where he stirred weakly, tears streaming down his face.

Billy felt no pity. He kicked the boy in the face, roaring with laughter as he did so. The boy clutched his nose, moaning. "Did that hurt?" Billy asked, leaning closer. "Tell me... did it hurt?"

The boy burst into tears.

"DID IT HURT?" yelled Billy, kicking the boy again. "Did _that _hurt, then?" The boy hurriedly nodded, his eyes wet and wide with fear.

"How much did it hurt?" Billy asked. "A little? A lot?"

The boy didn't answer. There was now a spark of defiance in his bottle-green eyes.

"HOW MUCH DID IT HURT?" Billy roared. He grabbed onto a lock of the boy's wild black hair and pulled it back, forcing the boy's head back. "It hurt a lot, didn't it? Tell me it did!"

"NO!" The boy tried to break free, but Billy picked him up as if he were nothing but an empty pillowcase.

"It didn't hurt?" Billy whined, pretending to look insulted. He smirked. "Maybe _this_ will." Holding the boy up with one hand, Billy took his other fist and raised it, ready to give that annoying greasy and slimy little git with the glasses the beating of his life.

As the fist neared the boy's face, something changed in his eyes. A green fire burst alive in them, and Billy's fist hit hard air. "W-W-_What_?" he gasped, stumbling backwards and dropping the boy like he was a hot potato.

The boy stood back up and fixed Billy with a glare filled with such hatred that it gave Billy shivers. "_Don't do that_."

The boy that Billy had been insulting and hitting earlier was suddenly frightening instead of pitiful. There was something about his presence that induced terror in Billy, a terror so bad that he was rendered incapable of speech. And then, Billy screamed. He could see terrible visions, visions of death and destruction, staring out from behind those emerald green eyes. The boy watched him, unrelenting and cruel, doing nothing but standing there and glaring, glaring so hard that he was boring holes into Billy's brain.

"STOP!" Billy sobbed, his legs suddenly wobbly and weak. Unable to support himself, he fell to the ground, gasping and shuddering.

The boy cackled loudly. "_Did you stop hitting me? I don't think I'll stop this, then."_

Billy let out another whimper. His limbs felt strangely out of his control. They started to twitch as if possessed. "What're you doing?" he screeched. "STOP!"

"_No._" The look in the boy's eyes was pure evil. "_This is the last time." _

Billy screamed again. "You—you're a—you're a monster! _STOP!_"

"_No more than you_."

Billy was suddenly staring at a boy that was glowing green. Billy let out a gasp as he was held up in the air, the boy lifting him with simply his gaze. He was blasted backwards into the ground so hard that that his teeth rattled. The swings began to swing of their own accord, the seesaw began to move up and down without anyone on it, and the pebbles on the ground began to rattle. Billy let out a girlish scream and backed away, but he was pulled back by the invisible force.

The air around the boy was whirling like a tornado, causing his untidy hair to whip around his face. Billy took one last look into the cruel green eyes before he lost it, and let out a blood-curdling scream that no one seemed to hear.

"_Never, ever bother me again."_

The eight-year-old boy picked up his book, pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, and walked away without looking back.

Billy Loomer was never quite right again. Three months later, he was admitted into a mental hospital and remained there for the rest of his life. He had not bullied another living soul ever since that day.

* * *

THREE YEARS AGO

Snow fell to the ground in mesmerizing snowflakes. A ten-year-old boy, going on eleven, sat on the steps to his house. Albus was much more mature now, but that didn't mean he still didn't have childish dreams anymore. It was these dreams that he thought of as he watched the snow fall, blurring his glasses with cold droplets.

The night sky was pitch black, and no stars shone. Perhaps this was because of the thick clouds and the heavy snowfall. He could hear voices coming from inside his house, most likely coming from the Wizarding Wireless. It was New Year's Eve, but he wasn't too optimistic about the coming year. He'd be going to Hogwarts the coming September, and he knew that it wouldn't change anything. He'd always be the loser.

He sighed and closed his eyes. If only he could be respected. If only he could be admired, looked up to. If only he could be a_ legend._

The trees in his backyard began to turn to ice. One by one, they turned into frozen water. They looked like they were made of glass, but were cold to the touch. They sparkled and shone as the snow fell around their icy branches. Albus opened his eyes, and they began to glow. He examined the product of his concentration. He had turned all the trees to ice. He hadn't _covered_ them in ice—he had _turned_ them into ice. There was no wood within them. They were made completely out of ice. They shimmered in the light from the windows, and Albus began to glow slightly. The wind blew around him, and the snowflakes were caught in the breeze. They circled around him, but he didn't feel cold. Then the snowflakes were released from his mental grip and fell, transforming the backyard into a wintery wonderland.

It was his escape—his escape from reality. This was where he felt like he could forget his problems, but as soon as those trees turned back into wood, those problems would fall back on him, never truly gone.

As soon as he thought this, the trees transformed back from ice into wood. The unique beauty of the scene disappeared, and a sick feeling settled in Albus's stomach. "Al? Aren't you cold out here? Come in! The countdown to the new year's about to begin!" said his father, poking his head out of the door.

"Dad..." Albus took a deep breath, summoning his courage to ask his father the question that had been gnawing at him for years and years. _"Do you think I'll ever find a place where I truly belong?"_

* * *

PRESENT TIME

A teenage boy lay in his bed, tossing and turning. His sheets were drenched in sweat, and he kept kicking them away. Something was burning inside of him like fire, but that wasn't the worst of it. Something was going on in his dreams, and it wasn't something good. He let out a gasp and clutched his head. He wasn't quite awake, but he wasn't quite asleep, either. He could sense something terrible occurring thousands of miles away from where he was.

There was a grand tower—a tower so tall that its top scraped the very stars. This terrible fortress stood on an island in the middle of an unforgiving sea, the waves of which were eroding the great rocks that surrounded the tower. Upon first glance, one would notice that there were monsters everywhere—nightmarish, ghastly creatures that prowled the island. Flares of fire burst randomly from within the twisted trees, whose branches rustled threateningly when approached. A serpent with three heads slithered around the perimeter, followed by several giant red-furred, bear-like creatures with five legs. A massive, wild plant—like a weed that had gotten far too out of control—was attached to the tower, its tentacle-like leaves squelching as they sucked their way up to the top, eager for prey. On top of it all, a great force field surrounded the island, rippling in the breeze.

All seemed peaceful. But, suddenly, everything changed. The roars stopped. The fires halted in their purge. The waves stopped moving. Even the very _wind_ stopped blowing. The air lay still and unmoving, and there was not a single sound.

_Time_ itself seemed to have frozen in place.

And then, a terrible vortex tore open the dark sky. It was blood-red, swirling, whirling, and sucking out the magic from the world. It spun so furiously fast that it was nothing but a giant maw in the sky, one that was growing larger at an alarming rate. The air seemed to crackle with sheer power as the crimson vortex grew larger and larger, expanding further throughout the sky.

Just then, out of nowhere, without any warning, the vortex began to recede and grow _smaller_ again. It shrunk rapidly, leaving the sky black as the blood-red was drawn toward the center of the vortex. Everything returned to normal. The roars began up again. The fires continued to blaze. The waves moved, and the breeze blew. Time had started again.

But something was different. There was a sinister feeling to the air, signaling that everything was not right.

And then, just as the clock struck 11:59 PM on July 31st, the Azkaban Fortress' warning alarms went off.

* * *

**Author's Note: Okay, okay, okay! I'm really late in posting this! Why? I realized that my patient for plastic surgery, otherwise known as Book 3, was just too ugly, and I refused to operate on it. Instead, I decided to CREATE a new person from SCRATCH.**

**Fine, I'll cut this nonsense out. I decided to REWRITE Book 3 because I couldn't stand it. So, here it is, completely revamped in plot and writing. Yay! Good News: It should be more enjoyable, and shouldn't make you want to throw your computer out the window (like the first version made me want to do). But there's more. With every bit of good news, bad news comes along with it, because that's how the world works. So, here's the VERY, **_**VERY**_** BAD NEWS: I'm an utterly-awfully-shockingly stupid-dumbo-idiot and didn't finish writing Book 3 yet. I got impatient to post this. Ninth grade and high school (Which sucks, by the way. Hate it. Take me back to middle school right now, please.) is taking up a lot of my writing time, so I wasn't able to finish it. So, it's unfinished and I'm ten chapters ahead of you guys.**

**As you can see, this is alarming. I need to have the book completely complete before I show it to anyone. But your reviews made me guilty. Really guilty. And I was hypnotized and brainwashed and had to post against my better judgment. UGH! WHY DO YOU ALL HAVE THIS EFFECT ON ME? **

**EDIT TO AUTHOR'S NOTE: Updates are every weekend now! Forget the three-week thing! There'll be a new chapter every Sunday (or Saturday/Friday if I'm not available on Sunday). **

**Thanks for reviewing! Please continue to do so - I love feedback!**


	2. In the Newspapers

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Author's Note: T****o clear up things: I was asked why the title was "Assassinator's Quest" instead of "Assassin's Quest," as it was supposed to be. I don't know why I changed it. I guess I liked it better longer, or something. Also, I remember mentioning in the Author's Note at the end of the second book that Book 3 would have less action and more plot points.**

**I lied_._ It probably has _more_ action than Book 2 did, but important plot points as well. Meaning, the chapters get CRAZY long. JK Rowling's average chapter length for Prisoner of Azkaban was 4875 words. I wanted to keep AQ's**** chapter length around that, but AQ's average chapter length is around 8,000. No joke. ****I apologize for the obscene length. I hope it doesn't give your computer problems, because mine is as old as the Four House Founders' ages put together and freezes up if the chapters are too long. (Oh joy.)**

**MORE THINGS: AQ has a parallel to PoA, but it's not so obvious in this book. There's a decent amount of romance for dear little Albus in this book, including typical teenage angst mixed with nearly losing his life every five seconds. And there's me putting Albus through a TON of crap - and I mean a _TON_. (I enjoy torturing him so much. It's becoming addicting. And it gets WORSE in later books. Poor kid hasn't been through _anything_ yet.) If you've been fond of a pairing for the first two books, you'll see it more in this book. I'm fresh out of middle school, and I tried to make the romance realistic to what I saw there. (Of course, it's a story, so I made it more like the _ideal_ middle school drama.) Albus's character does get slightly darker, too, but I don't think it's bad enough to make you hate him. YET. Hee hee hee.**

**Oh, yeah, the plot gets started quickly in this - unlike it did in SoS and (especially) PO.**

**Please review! I've made a personal goal of 150 reviews, and I need your help to get there! It means a lot to me to know that people liked the story enough to spend a few seconds to tell me what they thought. I'm doing this for the readers, after all!**

**I hope you all enjoy book 3!**

* * *

**-Chapter Two-**

**In the Newspapers**

Albus Severus Potter blearily blinked his eyes open. Early sunlight was filtering in through his window, blinding him. The moment he realized where he was, he let out a loud groan. Yesterday had been his birthday—and it had been _terrible_. James had thought it funny to hide every prank in history into Albus's presents, and Albus had been teased all day by his various family members for randomly singing "A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love" for hours on end due to one of James's vicious pranks.

_Stupid James, _thought Albus as he rolled out of bed, still with a splitting headache from having been forced to hear his own awful singing all day long.

Or perhaps... he had a headache from his nightmare that night. He couldn't remember it, but it gave him a sick feeling every time he thought of it.

He checked the clock to see that it was six o'clock on August 1st—he had always been an early riser. Tiredly rubbing the bridge of his nose, he walked halfway down the stairs before he remembered his glasses and had to walk back up to put them on. With them firmly on, he arrived at the kitchen. The delicious scent of freshly buttered toast wafted towards him, enticing him. Even so, he couldn't help but be surprised. He was usually the first one awake in this household, unless something very important was happening.

His mother poked her head out of the kitchen, holding a platter of the toast Albus had smelled earlier. "Good morning, Al!"

He couldn't help but note that her tone was clipped and her smile was strained. "What happened?" Albus asked. "Where's Dad?"

Ginny sighed deeply and placed the plate of toast on the table. "At the Ministry."

Albus stared at her, startled. "Why?" he asked, not touching his toast.

"There was a breakout from Azkaban," said Ginny gravely.

Albus continued to stare at her, not comprehending. "That's not possible. No one's ever escaped from Azkaban—not after the war, anyways. It's surrounded by too much protection. There hasn't been any trouble from the prisoners before, right? Is Dad in trouble? What's he doing? Who escaped? Are they going to increase the protection—?"

"Calm down, Al," said Ginny pleadingly. "You don't have to worry about it. Your father's just going to be working overtime for a bit. He and the Aurors are out of practice, I mean, there hasn't been a squeak of trouble for ages, and we don't have to worry, it's only one prisoner, he'll be caught soon..." His mother was rambling now, all her words bunched in one big run-on sentence.

"Who escaped?" asked Albus eagerly, ignoring his mother's attempts to force him to eat his breakfast. "Where is he right now? How do they think he managed it?"

"Al, you're getting too excited about this," said his mother, sounding exhausted. "Your Dad and the rest of the Aurors are trying to track him down, but he's just disappeared, and nobody has any idea how... his name's Rayan Lyserian—"

The name sparked a memory from the year before. Albus could remember going to a Ministry Party the previous summer and meeting a few politicians—_Reyna_ Lyserian among them. "_Rayan_ Lyserian? Is that _Reyna_ Lyserian's husband or brother or something?"

"Brother," said Ginny. "He was a serial killer. Or, perhaps, a better term would be an assassinator. He was a contract killer. He's killed a lot of influential people. He even snuffed out the life of the French Minister of Magic, and a lot of other important businesswizards and politicians. He was a teenage assassin, too, which was why he was so successful. Nobody suspected him until he got them."

Albus listened with great attentiveness. When his mother finished talking, he said, "How old is he? Is he still a teenager?"

His mother shook her head. "He's only a bit younger than I am now. He was caught a few years after Voldemort's fall."

"If he escaped now, there's got to be reason," said Albus, wild theories circling in his head. "Maybe he's got a new victim now?"

Ginny shook her head. "It's more likely that he just wanted to get out of Azkaban. Of course, it's only a matter of time until someone finds him and gives him the gold he needs to kill."

"Where does Dad think he went?" asked Albus. He knew he was annoying his mother, but he couldn't resist. He had a natural curiosity for events like this—which was the reason that he got into so much trouble.

Before Ginny could give an exasperated answer, Albus heard a wild fluttering of wings coming from the window. He turned in his seat to see a small gray owl holding a rolled up newspaper in its beak. Scraping his chair out from underneath him, Albus got up and crossed the room to get to the window. He took the newspaper out of the bird's beak and slipped a knut from a jar on the windowsill into the pouch on the owl's leg. As the owl gave a small hoot and flew away with some more frantic flapping of its wings, Albus unrolled the newspaper.

Albus always read the _Daily Prophet _during the summer. Unlike James, who couldn't care less about what was going on in the wizarding world, Albus read his paper from front to back. He even endured the insults the _Daily Prophet_ threw at him for being in Slytherin. As such, he knew when something was wrong the moment he looked at the title of the biggest article on the front page.

_**HIGH-SECURTY PRISONER RAYAN LYSERIAN ESCAPES FROM AZKABAN**_

_High-security prisoner Rayan Lyserian was confirmed by Head Auror Harry Potter to have escaped in the late hours of last night. "I haven't got much time to talk—I've got to get to the prison right now. The Department of Magical Transportation's trying to track Apparitions and Disapparitions around Azkaban, but they're not getting anything. Yes, a prisoner did escape—everyone heard the alarm that went off a minute before midnight." _

_The Auror Office, it seems, continued to hit walls in their search for the escaped prisoner, Rayan Lyserian. "It's like he dropped off the face of the planet!" said frustrated Deputy Head Auror Ron Weasley at three o'clock this morning. "If he didn't, he must be using a form of transportation that we don't know about."_

_Other Aurors tell us that Rayan Lyserian is highly dangerous, and not someone to take lightly. "He's an assassin—killed his own parents for gold. They were rich businesswizards, and Lyserian's employer wanted them dead. So, Lyserian did it without blinking an eye. He was a teenage assassin, and therefore was not suspected for numerous murders, the greatest of which was the French Minister of Magic, Jean-Claude Moreau. Lyserian's a careful killer, and anyone could be his next victim. In fact, he might get bored and start attacking random commoners for fun," warned Auror Ewan Tutterskope. _

"_While we try to recapture this dangerous assassin, we urge the magical community to keep vigilant and inform us if you've seen him. We assure you that the recapture of Rayan Lyserian is our first priority," said Potter before Apparating to Azkaban early this morning—_

Albus stopped reading to stare at the picture near the headline. It was of a grimy man with dark hair and brilliant eyes. The picture was black and white, but Albus could still tell that those eyes were blazing with fire. A caption underneath the picture stated: _Rayan Lyserian. Convicted for various murders. Contract killer. Was sentenced for life at sixteen years old. _

Curious for more information, Albus turned the page and gave a start. There were two large pictures on this page, one of a teenage girl and another of a boy. The two of them looked fairly similar to each other—both with dark curls and bright, light eyes.

_**RAYAN LYSERIAN & REYNA LYSERIAN: THEIR TROUBLED HISTORY**_

"_The Lyserian family was always very mysterious," says Amelie Douglass, age thirty-four, childhood friend of the Lyserians. "But I was always good friends with their daughter, Reyna." Reyna Lyserian is currently the Head of the International Magical Cooperation Department, and is high up in the ranks of the Ministry of Magic. But more digging into her family roots reveals that she had quite a lot to put behind her. "Reyna is really very inspirational," gushes Douglass. "She rose above her family and made a name for herself."_

_But what name did she previously have? Reyna Lyserian lived with her mother, father, and half-brother and grew up in a rich household. Her parents, Octus and Hydra Lyserian, were rich purebloods who supported He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's regime. Reyna had a very shaky relationship with her parents and her little half-brother, Rayan. "Reyna was a great friend," says Douglass, "but Rayan was really quite a freak." Rayan Lyserian was his father's lovechild, and his birth shook the family. All throughout his life, Rayan had never had a good relationship with either of his parents, or even his sister. "He'd always be wandering around the town, keeping his head buried in some book," Douglass tells us. "Never spoke to anyone. He had no friends—he was just a loner. And he was in the House of Slytherin to boot." _

_Douglass says that Reyna, however, was quite popular at school. "Like me, she was a Ravenclaw. Determined to break away from her family, she befriended muggle-borns and half-bloods, including me. She hated any mention of her family or her brother, and tried to change her name a few times. She was very ambitious, too. She always wanted to be Head of some big Department at the Ministry, and she did manage that."_

_But not before the tragedy that shook her life. On November 12__th__, 2005, when Reyna was just twenty years old, she learned news that her parents had been brutally murdered by use of the Killing Curse. The killer was soon found out to be her own half-brother, Rayan Lyserian, who was sixteen at that time. He had been found at the scene of the crime, and questioning after the incident revealed that he was the mysterious, desperately wanted assassin and that, at the age of fifteen, he had killed the French Minister of Magic on an assignment from an unknown superior. For a _full_ list of Rayan Lyserian's victims, see __**page nine**__. A proud, talented assassin, Rayan Lyserian was sentenced for life in Azkaban._

_Though stricken by the abrupt deaths of her parents, Reyna Lyserian continued climbing up to the top in the Ministry of Magic, eventually striking a partnership with one of the candidates for Minister of Magic, Drake Edgeworth. If Edgeworth wins the election, Reyna Lyserian will be his Advisor. In fact, Reyna Lyserian told us, "I have put the events of fourteen years ago behind me. I don't care whether Rayan is my brother. He's a monster, and I'm going to help the Aurors bring him down no matter what. It is time that he stopped tarnishing my name, and, working together, we have got to put a stop to him."_

Albus glanced up at the pictures again. The caption read: _Reyna Lyserian, age sixteen, and Rayan Lyserian, age twelve. _So, Rayan Lyserian had murdered his own parents—because he had wanted to, or because he was hired as an assassin to do so? And had he really killed the French Minister of Magic at the age of fifteen? Despite himself, Albus was impressed. Rayan Lyserian had been a Slytherin... No wonder Slytherin had a bad name, with insane people like that in the House.

Albus put the newspaper down and let out a sigh. He was quite confused, and he was sure that everyone else was, too. What was bothering him was not the fact that Rayan Lyserian was an assassin, but was instead how he had managed to escape. Albus himself knew a bit about the defenses of the wizard prison, since, as a young boy, he had been very curious and had asked his father to tell him about his work as an Auror.

He had learned that Azkaban was no longer guarded by Dementors. In fact, Albus didn't really know what Dementors were, except that everyone above the age of thirty shuddered whenever they were mentioned. In the days after the Second Wizarding War, Azkaban was guarded by a variety of magical monsters and plants. Along with that, an extremely powerful force field surrounded the prison, only letting visitors in. The cells had Super-Sensory Charms around them, and when the charms sensed that a prisoner had escaped, blaring loud alarms would go off, alerting the Ministry of Magic no matter what time it was. Therefore, if prisoners managed to slip out of their cells, they would immediately be caught and sent back. Apparating and Disapparating could be tracked, and so could any other form of magical transportation—and that was the only way to leave the prison. Rayan Lyserian would have been tracked if he had used any magical form of transportation, but whatever he had done to escape was evidently not _recorded_ as a form of magical transportation.

What had he done, then? Albus pondered this for a few minutes, staring at the front page and the leering picture of Rayan Lyserian—

"Does that newspaper clear things up for you?" sniffed Ginny, looking over his shoulder. "Well, it's nearly seven o'clock. I'd better go wake your siblings up." She bustled up the stairs, screaming James's and Lily's names.

Albus skipped to page nine to look at a list of Rayan Lyserian's victims, all of which included important members of society that had many enemies. Albus realized, with a gulp, that the entire Weasley-Potter family could be in danger. They were so high up now that nothing could be decided without the approval of some Weasley or Potter. The Weasley-Potters ruled the country now, and Albus was sure that his family had many enemies, too.

Before Albus could ponder this worrying fact, his brother loudly thudded down the stairs. James leaned over, snatched the newspaper out of his hand, threw it over his shoulder, and obnoxiously said, "Why did Mum look all worried when she woke me up, you loser?"

Used to the greeting 'you loser,' Albus slowly turned around to face his brother, who still somehow infuriatingly managed to look handsome even though he had just rolled out of bed. "Give that back."

James snorted, a sneer crossing his face. "Not likely, dragon-breath. Hey, can you sing 'A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love' again? You'll be a star, with a beautiful voice like that—"

"Shut up," Albus snarled, whirling around and trying to think of anything but about how much he wanted to strangle James. He had tried to swing a few punches this summer, and had definitely come worse off. James was far taller and stronger (and better looking).

"_Oh, come and stir my cauldron_," James sang, making his voice girlishly high as he walked to the kitchen to get orange juice, "_and if you do it right, I'll boil you up some hot, strong love... to keep you warm tonight—_"

"SHUT UP!" Albus roared. "You don't sing any better than me, you prat!"

"I do _everything_ better than you," James said maliciously.

Albus clenched his fists, but was unable to retaliate. He contented himself with imagining a scene in which James was fed deadly poison.

"Anyways, you didn't answer my question, gnome-brain. I asked you why Mum looked worried. And where's Dad? He can't have left yet, can he? OI! Can you hear me through your thick, ugly skull—?"

"Here," said Albus, thrusting the newspaper into James's hands. "Something happened. Check the _Daily Prophet_ to see what, if you can read English, that is—which I highly doubt." He watched his brother scan the front article at top speed.

Jame's mouth fell open. "_What?_"

Fortunately, Albus was saved the necessity of coming up with some scathing insult by the arrival of his mother and sister from upstairs.

"Wha's goin' on?" Lily asked thickly, rubbing her sticky eyes. Her mop of dark red hair was a mess, and Albus doubted that she had bothered to comb it—not that he or James had done so, either.

"There was a breakout from Azkaban. The very first since the days of the war," explained Ginny, sighing and starting towards the kitchen. "Your dad is at work. He was at work _all night_."

It was taking a long time for this to get through to Lily. "Uhh... what?" she mumbled, squinting over at the _Daily Prophet_ to see what all the fuss was about. "Oh," she said a moment later, her mouth dropping open in shock. "Oh. I get it now." She finally seemed to be awake.

Ginny went into the kitchen, took out her wand and waved it, levitating the stick of butter and placing it on the counter. Several slices of bread flew up in the air and onto a nearby plate, and the one on top was suspended in the air as it was magically toasted. Albus turned to his own rapidly cooling plate of toast that his mother had given him earlier, but before he could even take a bite, James snatched it out of his hand and bit into it instead, smirking. His mother came back with a new platter of toast, but James seized that, too.

"You know what would be great?" said James as Albus silently seethed over his empty plate. "_Me_, catching the escaped prisoner! _I_'ll catch that dirty assassin and throw him back in Azkaban, where he belongs."

"Don't say silly things like that," their mother snapped, now giving Lily a plate. "The Aurors have got enough to worry about without you sticking your nose into trouble—"

"But I'll be helping them!" said James angrily, raising his voice. "I'll keep a lookout at Hogwarts—"

Albus, determined to say something nasty, put in, "That's helpful. Because an assassin is really going to want to turn up at a _school_ to murder little _children_."

"Shut up, Snivellus," James muttered, splashing his orange juice in Albus's face.

"JAMES!" shrieked Ginny while Lily snorted.

* * *

After breakfast, Albus and James fought over the Wizarding Wireless Network (Albus wanted to listen to the news, while James wanted to listen to _One Hundred Wizarding Pranks_)—that was, until Ginny came over to them, steaming with fury at the fact that both of them had their fists out, and informed them that their Hogwarts letters had arrived.

Albus and James realized this five seconds later when Lily let out a scream of joy and started to jump up and down, still screeching. "I'M GOING TO HOGWARTS! YES! YES! YES! HOGGY-HOGGY HOGWARTS! SECRET PASSAGEWAYS, MYSTERIOUS STUFF, DANGEROUS MONSTERS! HOGGY-HOGGY HOGWARTS! Remember, the motto is: Never poke a sleeping dragon in the eye! I know the school song, too..." Lily ripped her letter open violently and let out a fresh squeal of happiness.

Albus plugged his ears with his fingers and slowly tore his letter open while James let out an appreciative hoot. He waved his letter in Albus's face. "Look how chunky it is," James bragged. "I've made Gryffindor Quidditch Captain!"

Albus eyed the letter, trying not to let his jealousy show. "That'll make the team worse than it already is."

"You won't be so cocky when I catch the Snitch before you do," sneered James.

"I've never missed the Snitch before," Albus responded icily. "And you didn't catch it _twice_—the two times you played against _me_."

James truly looked stumped. Eventually, he managed to construct a plausible insult. "At least I'm not a specky, scrawny git like you."

Albus decided to ignore him. He slipped the letter out of its thick, yellowish envelope and unfolded it. The list of supplies was the same as always, but he noticed something strange. "They've found another Potions teacher," he muttered to himself. The Potions professors of the last two years had both tried to kill Albus, and he wasn't looking forward to meeting the new one.

Ginny came over and peered over his shoulder at the letter. "Oh, yes," she said. "I know the new Potions professor. She'll be good."

Albus looked up interestedly. "You know her?" he asked.

His mother, however, had temporarily diverted her attention to James and was pulling him into a hug. "Oh, I'm so proud! You made Quidditch Captain at fourteen! That must be a record!" She kissed the top of his head while Albus and Lily pretended to retch.

Before he could repeat his question, though, another gray owl landed on the windowsill with a light thud, a scrap of parchment tied to its leg. James reached for it, but Albus beat him to it. The moment that he detached the letter, the owl flapped its wings and flew away, hooting softly. He unfolded the note and saw that it was addressed for him. In one of his best friends' messy scrawl was:

_Al—_

_Did you hear about the breakout? I just got the paper, and sent my owl over at top speed. The prisoner is Rayan Lyserian, Reyna Lyserian's little half-brother! She's really powerful and influential. Too bad that her brother's a madman. Anyways, do you want to meet at Diagon Alley this Saturday? I'm coming to get my books and everything there. See you later._

—_Scorpius_

"Is it from that scummy spawn of snakes?" asked James, snatching the note from Albus, who let out a cry of protest and tried to grab it back. "Traitor slime, consorting with Death Eaters. That's enough to send you to Azkaban. There's a nice cell there with your name on it."

"That's enough, James," said Ginny furiously. "Apologize to Al at once!"

James scowled and did not say anything—or at least until Ginny threatened to take away his broomstick. Smirking in a self-satisfied manner, Albus took another look at his Hogwarts letter. Unfortunately, there was no Quidditch Captain badge for him—the current Slytherin Quidditch Captain, Wyatt Hemley, was in his final year at Hogwarts.

He gave another jump as a third owl—this one brown—swooped over the window, briefly stopping to drop two small slips of parchment on the windowsill before taking off again. Written on one of the slips in neat, curly handwriting was: _Al_. The other slip was addressed to James, though it was in the same attractive handwriting. Albus hastily unfolded the piece of parchment, predicting who it was from.

_Dear Al,_

_How are you doing? I miss you so much! It's so dull at Hogwarts during the summer. But, guess what? I'm allowed to come to Diagon Alley for the first time! Do you want to meet me there? I'm coming this Saturday. I can't wait to see you again!_

_Love,_

_Elina_

_P.S. Thanks for everything you did last term. I'll always remember._

Albus stared dreamily at the letter, feeling as though he had butterflies fluttering—or perhaps, killer bees buzzing—inside his chest. Elina Lyon was possibly the only girl at Hogwarts that did not sneer at him when he walked past. In fact, she was one of the only people that judged him on _himself_, not the name of his House. She had treated him far better than everyone else had, and in turn, he became infatuated with her—obsessed enough, even, to attempt to save her life the previous term.

It certainly did not help that she was also very attractive and one of the most popular girls at school.

James had a similar look of dreaminess on his face as he read his letter. Lily was watching them, looking amused. "Oh, did you two get letters from your girlfriends?" she giggled, diving for both her brothers' letters. She seized them, one in each hand, and read them both. "You two have the _same_ girlfriend!" she announced gleefully. "This is _rich_. She must be some kind of troll to be desperate enough to send _you_ two letters. I mean, _ew_! You two are _gross_."

"Shut it," said James and Albus at the same time.

Lily giggled again. "This is hilarious. What's her name?"—Lily checked the letters for the signature—"Elina and one Potter brother sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes marriage, then comes the baby carriage, and then comes_ the other brother on a rampage_—"

"SHUT UP!" roared James while Albus tried to throttle Lily. "You're an idiot!"

"James, don't call your sister an idiot. She was just teasing," chided Ginny. A second later, Albus released his sister due to a glare from his mother and reread the letter from Elina, trying to calm himself down. "Anyways, I'm excited to meet her. You two talk about her _nonstop_. The poor girl," his mother said.

"She's _definitely_ a troll," Lily snickered. "I feel _so_ sorry for her. I'm going to tell her that you pick your nose, James, and that you talk to yourself, Al!"

"DO NOT!" they cried, horrified.

Ginny rolled her eyes, but gave Lily a stern glare. "Lily, leave your brothers alone!"

* * *

The rest of the morning and afternoon passed without incident. Albus retreated to his quiet room—as he always did—to reread his Potions textbooks and fool around with his ingredients. He always had his nose buried in a large book, his head full of difficult magical equations and theories and his thick glasses fogged up from the fumes from his various potions. He invented potions on a regular basis, and if he'd had his wand for the summer, he would have been able to invent spells, too. His current project was inventing a potion that rendered the drinker able to see the future for a brief amount of time. He hadn't quite come up with a name for it yet, (he was thinking something witty like 'Drink and See') but he was working very hard on it. He had written five different recipes for it, but none seemed to work just right. He could only see one single flash of the future, and this flash would only last for a grand total of one-third of a second.

Today, he sat down at his desk and examined his five recipes. Something didn't add up. There had to be an ingredient somewhere that was messing with the potion's ability...

Albus began to take his many ingredients off of the shelves surrounding his room. He only had basic ingredients, which was unfortunate. If he could get more advanced, rarer ingredients, maybe he'd be able to figure this out. He tossed some eels' eyes into the cauldron, taking care to mash them before heating his cauldron up. As he worked, his untidy hair covered his eyes, making it difficult to see. His fingers were nothing but a blur as he cut up ingredients and sprinkled them into the cauldron.

Albus was a gifted Potions Master, top of his class—and perhaps even the whole school. His talents didn't stop at Potions, though. He was considered a magical prodigy, and was able to get most spells right on the first try. Having grown bored of classes for students his age, he had accelerated his magical education and now knew spells at NEWT level. Many of his professors considered him a true magical genius, as well as deadly clever and cunning when the occasion warranted.

But that didn't matter to everyone else. He was the disgrace of his family, and the only Potter-Weasley in the eternally hated House of Slytherin. He wasn't good around people his own age, either. He stuttered, tripped over his words, and was—there was no other way to say it—socially challenged. They called him loser, freak, slime, Snivellus (James's favorite) and whatever other creative names they could think of whenever they passed him the hallways.

They didn't know about what he had done. If they had known, maybe he'd be treated a little better.

In his first year, he had been a timid little boy that was always chased by bullies and kicked around by his older brother. Somehow, he'd gotten dragged into the mystery of the Phantasm Orb, possibly due to his incapability of keeping his nose to himself. And so, realizing that the world was in danger from it, he had gone after the Orb and had tried to prevent it from being stolen and used to release the embodiment of evil. His favorite professor, Caspar Hoffman, had been the one who wanted to use the Orb for destruction. Albus had tricked him into getting the Orb, learned that he, Albus, was the super powerful Opponent of the Orb, and had ordered the Orb to destroy itself and the Phantasm Realm where it was kept. Hoffman had died in the struggle, but Albus and the embodiment of evil had somehow managed to survive. The events of his first year had been kept a secret from all but a select few—Rose and Scorpius, because they were his best friends and had aided him, and James, Lily, Ginny, and Harry, who were immediate family.

His second year had been, if possible, even worse. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been plagued by attacks from magical monsters, and a few of its students had mysteriously been sent into comas. Albus had later learned that the creatures were made out of deadly magical shadows, sent to kill Albus. Those that were tagged with Albus's scent were sent into the eternal coma, and the shadows continued to pursue him throughout the year, calling him 'Prey.' After Elina Lyon, the girl that Albus (and James) hopelessly fancied, had disappeared at the end of the year, he had gone into the Forbidden Forest to try and save her, barely managing to evade Potions Professor Hershel Heartley (who had later been killed) and fellow Slytherin Vladimir Rylon (who was now in Azkaban). Albus had faced Cryptan the Paradox—otherwise known as the embodiment of evil—and his Scepter of Shadows. Cryptan's goal had been to open the Shadow Realm and start destroying the world, but Albus had used the Scepter of Slytherin to fight him, and had shattered the Scepter of Shadows when Cryptan's back was turned. This had stopped the attacks and had destroyed the shadows and creatures, but had not woken the victims of the coma. Albus had found the cure in Elina's locket, and had used it to wake her and the other victims. The Ministry of Magic—slightly embarrassed that they had been bested by a twelve-year-old—had resolved to keep his achievements a secret. They—by 'they,' Albus meant the likely future Minister of Magic, Drake Edgeworth—had told him that telling the wizarding world about the embodiment of evil would cause an unnecessary panic. Albus had gotten an Award for Special Services to the school and had earned two hundred points for Slytherin, but after his obvious displays of freakishness, most of the students of Hogwarts still despised him.

He didn't quite blame them. He knew what he could do, and it frightened _him_ far more than it frightened them.

Albus took another look at the silver sheen of his potion. He added a sprinkle of fairy dust and stirred twelve times. That was currently the last step, but perhaps he had to add something else—something for a little flavor. Salamander scales? But that would ruin the effect of the cockroach wings... Albus bit his lip and added a sprinkle of sugar, which was a neutral ingredient to make potions sweeter and to make them more delectable—he was going to have to drink it, after all. Deciding to take a chance and try it out, he took a vial and scooped up a little bit of the silvery liquid. He brought it to his lips, bracing himself and trying to imagine that the potion was cockroach-free. His homemade antidote was a few inches away, in case he got poisoned—which had actually happened a couple of times. He sipped it slowly, feeling as though he was drinking the puree of rotten carrots. It tasted disgusting, but he choked it down and closed his eyes.

They were forced open again a second later, but it was not his room that Albus saw. In front of him was a small door, which swung open. Behind it was red—all _red_. He could see his reflection in the shiny scarlet floor and the walls, and the passages around him twisted around him, making right angles, like a neat maze. Where was he? Was this in his future? This red maze?

The scene changed. Now he could see fire all around him—but not normal fire. It was blazing emerald fire, flames greener and more powerful than the fire of Floo powder. He held his hand up in front of his face. Green flames were licking him, but they were not hurting him. He felt empowered, invincible—

Albus was jerked out of his vision. He stood there, swaying on his feet and panting heavily. It had worked. He seized his notebook and began scribbling furiously in his Potions log, his sentences disconnected and hurried.

_Recipe #6 worked. Saw vision of red room, and me... spewing fire and feeling really powerful—in my future? Does potion only show two scenes? Find way to make it show as many as needed. Aftereffects: Dizziness, exhaustion, and headache. Should take while sitting down._

Albus fell back in his chair and rubbed his forehead, very tired. After he was done resting, he stood back up and started cleaning up. The sun was setting, and he was sure that his father would be here soon. He wanted to know everything that happened, and he was going to grill his father until his curiosity was satisfied.

He cautiously stepped out of his room, looking for traps. (James had once placed an invisible net in front of him, and Albus had been stuck in the air for a whole hour before Lily had discovered him, hanging upside down and looking as green as his eyes.) Once he had determined that today was not a day that James was bored enough to make him miserable, Albus tentatively walked down the hallway. He could hear voices from downstairs, which were most likely from the Wizarding Wireless.

"_And if you want the ladies to be into you, you've got to get a personality makeover," _said a nasally-voiced lady that Albus realized was Fiona LaFolle, the witch and wizard relationship guru.

A hassled-sounding man's voice spoke next. "_How? How do I get Anna—or I'll take anyone, really—to notice me?_"

"_Women like the arrogant, cool, and smooth-talking types_," Fiona LaFolle said wisely.

"_I know. She's got a boyfriend like that_," the man muttered.

"_Dear, you've got_ no_ chance with Anna. Nice guys always lose. Your last resort is the Killing Curse—or you could sneak her a Love Potion_," LaFolle joked.

Albus reached the first floor landing and focused his attention on James, who was listening to the radio with rapt attention. "What the_—_?" Albus seized the controls for the radio, desperately trying to change the channel from this utter awfulness.

"Hey! I was listening to—" James protested, lunging at Albus.

"Change it to something useful, please. Fiona LaFolle? What are you—an eleven-year-old girl? That's the biggest load of garbage on the planet—"

"Well, I'm not listening to the news or _The Rarest Potions Ingredients in the World, _you nerd," snarled James.

Albus glared at him. He very much wanted to listen to _The Rarest Potions Ingredients in the World. _It was his favorite show, and it gave him many ideas for potions. "You got to listen to _One Hundred Wizarding Pranks_ earlier! And there's nothing else on—"

"HEY! CHANGE IT BACK!" James ordered. "They were just about to put on—"

Albus had changed it to _The Rarest Potions Ingredients in the World, _to James's chagrin. He tried to strangle Albus for the fifth time today, but he was saved when their mother poked her head out of the kitchen.

"Is that fighting I hear?" she snapped.

Her two sons completely ignored her.

Fortunately, their scuffle did not last. With a _whoosh_ of air and a clatter, their father shot out of the fireplace, covered in soot and looking nothing short of exhausted. "DAD!" all three children shouted, running towards their father to envelope him in a hug. Ginny came out a moment later, holding a tray laden with teacups.

"No luck?" she asked, ushering her husband over to the sofa and handing him a cup of tea.

Harry shook his head weakly. "I would've still been out there, searching, but all the other Aurors ganged up against me and told me that I needed to rest."

"The _Daily Prophet_ is having a field day because of this escape—the first since the war," Ginny sighed, sitting down beside him. "I had to go there this afternoon because Susan couldn't manage without me. I swear, Amelie Douglass—that horrible _cow_—is going around with a bounce in her step. She got a healthy sum for her stupid article. Don't get me started on Nita Skeeter—she actually _came_ in—I repeat—she came into the publishing headquarters at three o'clock to say that she wanted information on the breakout to show on her fancy little talk show. Susan tried to ward her off, but she didn't have any luck until I said that I'd hex Nita's illegal fur coat into shreds if she didn't get herself out at once..."

Albus had a feeling that his mother was talking so much to get Harry's mind off work, but it didn't seem to be working. His father was looking blankly ahead of him, not properly listening to his wife. Albus, James, and Lily sat down in front of their parents, listening to their mother talk on.

"Oh, kids, listen up," their mother said quickly, giving her children a meaningful glance. "I was talking to your Aunt Hermione the other day, and she said that she heard from the Wizarding Education Department that there'll be a few changes at Hogwarts this year."

His interest piqued, Albus looked up. James yawned and leaned back, while Lily leaned closer, looking curious.

"There's going to be a _competition_ at Hogwarts this year," their mother continued, slowly sipping her tea. "I'm sure it'll be fun. All the students at Hogwarts will be divided into seven teams of sixty or so each, and you'll compete against each other in three events. In fact, it's rather a big production. The school is ordering seventy Comet 300 broomsticks for one of the events." Ginny paused for a moment to let out a very immature giggle. "Oh, you did notice that your school lists also asked for _costumes_? Doesn't that hint a Halloween Ball?" This year is going to be fascinating!"

Lily echoed her mother's giggle, but Albus groaned loudly enough to wake the dead. His father jumped awake, looking as if he had just realized that he was sitting with the rest of his family. It took a few seconds for him to get a grasp on the conversation. "Oh, yes," said Harry. "Costumes. Right. Well, what was that groan for?"

Albus would prefer not to talk about this, but James seemed to think that this was the perfect opportunity to get some bullying done. "Al can't ask out girls—not that they'd come with a nerd like him even if they were dead desperate. He's a wimp and a loser. It doesn't help that he looks like a shriveled elf—"

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER! Don't talk about your brother that way!" snapped Ginny. She gave Albus a weak smile. "Don't worry, Al. You're a very handsome young man."

_She's lying through her teeth_, thought Albus glumly. Next to James, the handsomest and most popular boy at school, Albus _did_ look like a shriveled elf.

"And the reason I brought up costumes was that Al's shooting into the sky! He's taller than me! He'll need new clothes," Ginny added, reaching over to ruffle Albus's already messed up hair. "And James grew about another foot this month, too—he _towers_ above me! They'll both need new school robes."

"What about me?" Lily whined. "I want a pretty costume! If there's going to be a party or a dance, the first years better be invited, too!"

"Of course." Ginny beamed. "There are many lovely costumes. You can go as a beautiful little princess! We'll go shopping for some when we go to Diagon Alley."

Lily seemed to glow at the prospect at shopping for costume dresses, though Albus and James both made a mental note to avoid both their mother and sister like the plague when they went shopping.

"Oh, yeah," James said, as if just remembering something. "I got a letter from one of my friends." He turned slightly pink, and so did Albus. "And she said that she's coming to Diagon Alley this Saturday. Can we go then?"

Albus nodded fervently. Scorpius was coming on Saturday as well as Elina. If Rose was able to come, too, all his friends would be there. Ginny looked towards Harry, who shrugged. "I'll go there to guard Diagon Alley. There's already some Aurors there to see whether the escaped prisoner turns up. I'll take them off their post on Saturday and take their place."

"But you don't have work on Saturdays!" Lily protested, looking horrified.

Harry shook his head. "Not technically, no. But if I don't use that day, it'll be a whole day wasted."

"Dad...," Lily groaned, giving her father a long-suffering look. "Don't be a workaholic!"

Harry shook his head. "It's not that I'm enjoying it! Rayan Lyserian's a powerful wizard that needs to be put down. Once he's back behind bars, we can all sleep easy."

"He's an assassin," said Albus, speaking for the first time. "He's not going to come after common people. He'll be hired by someone to kill someone else important and rich, like one of the businesswizards or a politician. Normal people don't have to be worried." Albus paused, remembering that his family was filled with influential wizards—including his father.

Harry rubbed his temples. "He's a killer. Who's to say that he won't get bored and start killing anyone in sight? There hasn't been an escape from Azkaban in so many years—ever since the war, actually. I can't let Rayan Lyserian get away. It's my job to keep the wizarding world safe. It's a big deal, and I'm not going to rest until he's firmly back in Azkaban."

Albus was very interested in this subject. "Is _Reyna_ Lyserian helping to catch him? She's Rayan's half-sister, isn't she?"

Harry let out a soft groan. Ginny fixed Albus with a venomous glare, but he did not back down. He felt sympathetic towards his father's plight, but he wanted answers, and his father wasn't ever one to keep them from him. Albus vaguely knew that his father had been kept out of the loop and had been prevented from asking questions many times when he had been young, and this had made him determined to tell his children everything that they needed to satisfy their curiosity. His father would eventually tell him, no matter how terrifying the information was.

"Reyna Lyserian. Don't get me started on her. She's not very helpful. I don't even know what she's going on about anymore. She says that the Dementors should be reinstated and sent after her brother. She's very... er... passionate about catching him—and killing him. We know he's a sick bastard"—Ginny looked disapprovingly at her husband for uttering such a word in front of Lily—"but she's gone insane about catching him. She says that if we find him, we should use the Unforgivables on him and everything. And there's something about her... that, well, I don't trust. Something insincere about her."

"What? She's going to be Advisor to the Minister of Magic if Edgeworth wins the elections coming up next year," said Albus, shocked. "So she's not going to be a criminal, right?"

"I know," said Harry, sounding irritated. "But she's not my favorite candidate. And Drake Edgeworth isn't, either."

Albus scowled. He hated Drake Edgeworth with all his might.

"I wouldn't mind Reyna Lyserian if she hadn't said that she wanted the Dementors back. That was really unsettling," Harry continued. "You don't want those things around here. We banished them to the ends of the Earth after the war."

"What are Dementors exactly?" asked Lily. "Whenever someone mentions them, everyone starts shivering and changes the subject."

Harry hesitated. He ran a nervous hand through his hair, and all of his children immediately realized that Dementors was a difficult topic for their father. He fixed his children with a long look. "Dementors aren't a matter for children. But... you need to know that the world has bad things in it."

Ginny stared at her husband, her shoulders tensed. "Harry, you don't have to tell them. They're still too young."

Harry shook his head. "They're old enough to handle it. And they need to know. Dementors... well, they suck all the happiness out of you. They feed on happy memories. And, if they're really hungry, they suck out your soul by _kissing_ you. If that happens, you'll just be an empty shell. They used to guard the wizard prison, but after the war, we banished them from the whole continent. They're still around, but far, far away."

They stared at their father in silence. It meant a lot to them that he was telling them this. He didn't like to talk about the war, and they refrained from asking questions about it because they knew it opened old wounds. But if they did ask, their father would always answer them, no matter how much it hurt to do so.

Albus had never experienced Dementors firsthand, and was glad that he hadn't. Dementors were a thing of the past, things that were in your history book. Lily shuddered at the description of Dementors, but James grinned. "Well, Snivellus, if you're never going to get kissed by a girl, your best bet is to snog a Dementor—"

"That's not a joking matter," said Harry angrily, shaking his head.

James shut up immediately.

"Why don't we talk about something else?" asked Ginny, shooting her children a warning glare. "The Dueling Program is returning to Hogwarts this year, too. But it'll be done a bit differently. Instead of having Dueling matches, you'll just be training according to group level with a professor. That'll basically be your practice for the events of the competition that'll be going on."

Albus couldn't bring himself to care about anything but the breakout anymore. Within the next ten minutes, his father had fallen asleep, his tea unfinished, and their mother hushed them all and told them to go up to their rooms. The moon had risen, and the sky was starry. It was a hot summer's night, so he opened his window to coax a breeze in. To his surprise, he spotted a small brown note on his windowsill. There was no sign of the owl that had delivered it. He picked it up, but then immediately dropped it. The note was made out of _mud_—wet, claylike dirt. Alarmed, he tentatively poked it with a finger. The small slab of clay spread out, growing in width, and words appeared on it from nowhere—as if they'd been scratched there by an invisible stick.

Albus's heart skipped a beat, and then skipped a second as he read the note. His fingers were suddenly feeling very weak, and he let go of the mud-made note. It dissolved into the air, never to be read again. But he could still remember its words:

_The terrors of the earth have been unleashed. The orders have been given, and the gold has been paid for your evaluation. An assassin is coming after you, Albus Severus Potter. Are you ready for the game of your _life_?_

_You know who I am._


	3. Rendezvous Point

**-Chapter Three-**

**Rendezvous Point**

Saturday came very quickly for Albus. He was still unable to process the words of the mud-made note that he had received a few days ago, the note that had told him that an assassin was after him. Rayan Lyserian, known assassinator, had just escaped from Azkaban. It wasn't a coincidence. And what had the note meant by 'the gold has been paid for your evaluation'? Had someone hired Rayan Lyserian to come after Albus? Was it the same person who had sent the Tenebrums of the Scepter of Shadows after him last term?

Albus's thoughts were spinning with unanswered questions, but the one that he was asking himself the most was: _Are you ready for the game of your_ life_? _His answer was quite plainly _no_.

What had he done to deserve _this_? Why was a dangerous assassin after Albus—a mere thirteen-year-old schoolboy who was the loser of the school?

_Well, I'm not exactly a normal boy after everything I've done, am I?_ Albus thought dryly as he stared at his ceiling. It was Saturday morning, and he couldn't quite drag himself out of bed. _I mean, I know that I stopped the whole releasing-the-embodiment-of-evil issue with the Phantasm Orb and the Scepter of Shadows, and caused the deaths of Hoffman and Heartley and threw Vladimir Rylon in prison..._

A second later, he thought, _I'm an idiot. An idiot. An utter idiot! IDIOT! Why can't I just keep my nose in my own business? Why do I have to keep falling into ditches that I can't get out of? Why can't I just keep my head down and be the loser that everyone tells me that I am? Why does this keep happening to me? Why do_ I_ have powers? What's so special about _me_? Why can't everything evil and twisted just leave me alone and go after someone else?_

He groaned and buried his head in his pillow, muttering, "Idiot" under his breath. He wanted to go back to sleep and pretend that he was a normal boy who was part of a normal family (without a sadistic—yet perfect in every other way—older brother) and who wasn't bullied by everyone—including insane assassins that wanted to play _games_ with him—games in which the loser would lose his _life_!

"AL! It's seven o'clock! Why aren't you awake yet? Are you alive? You're always awake before six!" His mother did not bother to knock before she strode into his room, clicking her tongue at the messy state of it.

"No," he mumbled into his pillow.

"Are you sick?" Ginny asked, sitting on the edge of his bed and running a loving hand through his hair.

He batted her away, irritated. Why was she fussing over him? Did she think that he was three years old? His mother pursed her lips. Her middle son was rarely ever rude to her. He was quiet and obedient, and didn't do anything to draw attention to himself. What was wrong with him today, then? "Al, are you nervous about going to Diagon Alley?"

Did she think that was the problem? He _wished_ that it was, but the problem was far, far worse than that. If she found out about his dreadful life, she'd probably take pity on him and end his suffering. Or perhaps she'd drag him out of bed and tell him to stop moping.

"That must be it. You're nervous about meeting this girl that you and James always talk about."

_Not helping._

"James is a bit rude to you, isn't he?"

_Understatement of the century._

"And he's put some stupid idea in your head that he's better than you. You mustn't listen to him. You're just as handsome and clever as him. You don't need to compare yourself. I know you and James both like this girl, but you don't have to be so jealous of your brother."

_Shut up. Shut up now. Just shut up._

"I'll talk to him and get him to stop insulting you. He has no right to tell you that you're not as good as him."

_Does she seriously think that'll work?_

"You need to increase your self-esteem. I was reading a parenting book earlier, and it said that teenage witches and wizards are very insecure. You should spend time with the family some more. The book said that spending time with people that love you improves your opinion of yourself. It'll make you feel better."

_Has she forgotten that the entire family despises me?_

"You're very handsome, Al. You're a wonderful, brave, sweet boy, and I'm very, very proud of you. Don't listen to what anyone says! Ignore those haters!"

_It's hard to ignore everyone in the world._

He didn't say anything and continued to breathe in the lint from his pillow. "Well, I'm giving you five minutes," his mother said, stroking his hair again. "You'd better be up by then. And, if you're worried about something, you can tell me. You've been acting strange for the last few days." She stood up to leave.

_Mum! Wait, don't go! An assassin wants to kill me! Help!_

He hadn't spoken this plea aloud, however, and she had already left the room after giving him a kiss on the cheek. Deciding that it was time to stop being so moody, he stood up and started to dress. Remembering that he was indeed going to meet Elina today, he tried to comb his hair, but had to quit when a few of the comb's teeth broke and got stuck in his tangles. Then he tried to find something to wear that didn't make him look a social reject, and failed in that aspect as well. His mood not much improved, he stumbled down the stairs, his glasses on crookedly.

Lily snorted into her cereal at the sight of him, and James let out a guffaw of laughter. Albus tried to ignore their snickers as he sat down and pulled a platter of toast towards him, trying to take his mind off the note. Thinking about it was making him want to throw up, and he had a plateful of toast to keep down.

His parents were giving him worried looks. His bizarre change in mood ever since he had gotten the note had alarmed them. Albus had stayed in his room, only leaving for meals. He had also been fidgety and kept looking over his shoulder, as if he were expecting a boogeyman to leap out of the nearest closet and strangle him. Having a dangerous, successful assassin after him didn't improve his mental health, and his parents had noticed his abrupt change in behavior. And he was sure they had also noticed the fact that he jumped every time someone spoke to him. _Just tell them, _said the wise voice in Albus's head. _Tell Dad. He's after Rayan Lyserian. He'll know what to do. _Albus slowly took a bite of his toast, trying to ignore the very rude hand gestures that James was making at him behind their parents' backs. _But I'll just worry everyone. Dad's got enough to take care of. And anyways, who's to say that it's not some really bad prank? A lot of people hate me. They'd probably think it's funny to send me a death threat. Maybe it's a joke—a joke that's not very funny. It's not worth worrying everyone for. _

And then, a truly terrible thought came to Albus, pushing all other thoughts out of his head. What if Rayan Lyserian had escaped for only one reason—to come after him? What if he was outside Albus's house right now, waiting for him to step out of its protection so that he could kill him and get his money? This thought was so horrifying that Albus immediately stood up, crossed over to the window, and suspiciously peered out at the empty street.

"Al, what are you doing?" his father asked, now looking more concerned than ever.

"I-I thought that I-I heard something," said Albus lamely, returning to his seat and picking at his toast. He didn't feel so hungry anymore.

"Are you going to eat that?" Lily was sneakily eyeing his toast.

Albus felt bile rise up his throat and pushed the whole plate towards her. He didn't want to think about food ever again, not while he felt like he could keel over at any moment. Lily happily started on his untouched toast, but Ginny looked horrified. "Al, you need to have breakfast."

"Not hungry," he mumbled, putting his head in his arms. That note was eating him alive.

"Hopefully, he'll die of hunger," James snickered.

"Don't say things like that."

"Yes, O Supreme Ruler of the Universe."

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER! Any more cheek from you and you'll be staying behind!"

James fell silent, though he was still smirking triumphantly at Albus, who couldn't even muster up enough energy to give him a dirty look. He didn't want to go outside, where assassins could easily take him and trade his life for a bag of gold...

But he couldn't escape it. The Potter family lined up in front of the fireplace, and two seconds later, Albus shot out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron, knocking over a table and three chairs in the process and causing someone who looked suspiciously like a vampire to glare at him. Albus struggled to his feet, his face red. Everyone in the pub was staring at him, all looking irritated at the commotion. A moment later, James calmly stepped out of the fireplace, easily managing not to destroy anything like Albus always did. James was greeted far more positively, and several people came over to ask for autographs (he kept a stack of pictures on hand) and to compliment him.

Unfortunately, Lily was bursting with excitement and shot out of the fireplace like a rocket. She skipped over to Albus, who was trying to disappear into his surroundings. "AL! ALBUS! ALBUS SEVERUS!"

But Albus wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention. His mouth had dropped open so far that it was in danger of touching the ground, and his eyes were bugging out of his head.

"What are you looking—?" Lily stopped talking, her question already answered.

"Hi, Al! I was hoping that you'd get here through Floo powder." The person who had spoken was a girl—a very pretty girl whom he barely recognized. She had shiny waist-length light brown hair, stunning blue-violet eyes that looked larger, and eyelashes that seemed longer than he remembered. He had never seen her in muggle clothes before, and she looked different—more curvaceous. Her hair smelled so good that it was intoxicating, and her soft-looking pink lips curled into a smile at the sight of him. It was Elina Lyon. She was nothing short of beautiful, and Albus was currently having trouble remembering his own name or how to breathe. He couldn't believe that this was the same girl that he'd saved last year, the same girl that had cried on his shoulder when she had uncovered her mother's message in her locket, the same girl that had nearly kissed him...

Well, whatever hopes he'd had of kissing her were now certainly dashed. Nerdy Slytherin scum at the bottom of the Hogwarts social ladder like him weren't allowed to associate with popular Gryffindor princesses like Elina Lyon.

"Al...?" she asked, now standing in front of him and probably wondering why he was as stiff as a board.

_Say something, _said a voice from the depths of Albus's stupefied brain as he gaped at her like a dying fish. _Move your mouth. On the count of three, say something. One... two... three... No? Let's try this again. One... two... three... Speak! Come on!_

"Hey," Lily said, nodding at Elina. "Who're you?"

"Elina Lyon," she said, sticking out her hand. "Are you Lily, Albus's and James's sister?"

Lily shook it. "You're not a troll, then," she stated blandly.

Elina laughed weakly. "Was that a compliment? Let's say it was." She turned to Albus, who hadn't yet said anything and was still arguing with himself.

_Just say 'hi' back. Say it now. No? Come on... how bad can I mess up 'hi'? _"H-h-h-hi," he stammered out, sounding as though he was holding back a sneeze. Had she even understood that?

"You finally said something. I thought that you'd lost your tongue," she giggled. "It's been ages since I've seen you."

Albus straightened his back in an attempt to look more confident, and was grateful that he was several inches taller than her now. But his glasses were crooked... He reached up to fix them, but stopped himself. That would look even stupider. To make sure that he didn't make a fool of himself, he had to stay still and silent. He didn't trust himself—his ability to speak as well as his ability to move properly had left him. His brain wasn't connected correctly to the rest of his body, and he'd probably end up moving his right arm when he wanted to move his left leg, or backwards instead of forwards.

_Stupid idiot. Stupid idiot. Stupid idiot._

"To be honest, I'm nervous." Elina's cheeks were suddenly tinged pink. "It's been years and years since I've been anywhere but outside Hogwarts."

"You live at Hogwarts?" asked Lily, catching on quickly. "James said something about that."

Elina nodded, looking at her feet. "Yeah. But don't tell. I mean, it's pretty obvious, but..."

"You don't want to make it even more obvious," said Lily, finishing Elina's thought. "I see. You're really not a troll." Lily snickered into her hand and looked at Albus, who was still frozen stiff.

Elina smiled and looked at Albus, too. "I really wanted to come to Diagon Alley, though. I never needed to before, since I could get all my school supplies at Hogwarts. But I really wanted to see how everyone else did it—and the famous Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes is here, too."

She looked so pretty when she was smiling that Albus wasn't able to respond for several seconds.

_I'm a sad, sorry, pitiful idiot. COME ON, SAY SOMETHING! I look brain-damaged with my mouth hanging open like this._

He gave himself a mental slap and managed to move his mouth to speak. He tried to deepen his voice, so that he'd sound more grown up. Unfortunately, all he managed to do was to stutter. "T-That's good. The weather's nice for shopping today, r-right?" The weather. He was talking about the _weather_! What was wrong with him? How could he jump in front of Elina and battle the embodiment of evil for her, yet not be able to simply speak to her properly?

_It's probably because when they were selling brains back when I was I born, I must have been broke. I must have been broke when they were selling muscles and handsome faces, too. _

"Yeah, of course it is," said Elina. She put a hand on his shoulder, and Albus immediately felt dangerously lightheaded. "So, Al, what did you do this summer?" asked Elina a moment later, in an attempt to coax him into talking.

Albus tried to figure out what he was going to say. He had stayed inside, inventing potions and reading all summer—like a complete social reject. She certainly wouldn't be impressed. "Hanging out with some people in town," he lied. "Playing Quidditch—and the muggle sport soccer."

Elina didn't look fooled. She knew him too well. "Really?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "You didn't get to make any potions? Why not? I know you love to."

Albus blanched at his mistake. "Oh, y-yeah. I invented some potions, too." _Why_ did he make himself look pathetic all the time? How dumb could he get? There _had_ to be a limit of some sort. Hoping to fix his blunder, he tried to lean against the wall in a way that he hoped looked cool and casual. Unfortunately, he misjudged the distance between himself and the wall and almost fell, but managed to catch himself just in time. Deeply embarrassed of his clumsiness, he thought, _Somebody please kill me now. Where's an assassin when you need him?_

"So, what potions did you invent?" Elina asked, looking genuinely interested. She didn't seem to care about the blatant lies that he had spewed earlier about him spending time outside with other people, and Albus felt a surge of gratefulness towards the fact that she wasn't one of the girls who cared how popular he was.

"I-I'm working on a potion that's supposed to show the drinker a little bit of the future," he managed at last. "I got it to work just a few days ago."

Elina widened her eyes. "That's amazing! A potion that can see the future? Do you know how much of a breakthrough that would be? You're a genius!" She gave him a bright smile.

Albus smiled back lopsidedly. He'd impressed her anyways, and he hadn't needed to lie to do it. He opened his mouth to say something else hopefully witty and cool—though what it was, neither he nor anyone else would find out, since James had just ditched his fan club to interrupt their conversation.

"You're here," James said to Elina, smirking in a self-satisfied manner that made Albus want to use the Cruciatus Curse on him. "Were you waiting for me?"

"Yeah," said Elina, turning pink. Now Albus wanted to use the _Killing_ Curse on James. "I didn't have to wait for long." To Albus's utter horror, she moved forward to hug James tightly. "I missed you!" If humans could spew fire, Albus would be doing it. Why were James and Elina so close all of a sudden? And worse—James was quite obviously doing something that was called 'checking her out.' His eyes didn't leave her body for several long seconds, which caused Albus to clench his fists.

Finally, Elina let go of James and stepped back, her cheeks still pink. "Where are your parents? Are they here?" she asked.

"Yeah." James gestured towards Harry and Ginny, who were engaged in a conversation with Neville and Hannah. Knowing adults, the conversation would probably last three centuries, plus five more minutes.

"I'm here with Professor Longbottom," said Elina unexpectedly. "He says that he'll let me go off in Diagon Alley as long as I'm back by evening."

"You can come with me," said James, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "I wouldn't want you to get lost, would I?"

Albus steamed silently. How was James able to speak so easily around her? Why wasn't he stuttering or making a fool of himself like Albus always did? It just wasn't _fair_.

Lily, who had been watching the conversation without talking, finally spoke. "Hey, Elina, you should've seen Albus's and James's faces when they got your letters. Hearts were squirting out of their ears!" giggled Lily. Albus and James slowly turned to face their innocently smiling sister. She let out another giggle that seemed more like a cackle and continued. "You should've seen them for the rest of the summer! Albus was writing love poems and singing them at the top of his voice. And James was even worse! He was doing lip-ups (the lip version of push-ups, by the way) and totally working out to get a six-pack so that you'd like feeling it!"

Albus's face had turned a lovely shade of purple, and James was sputtering like a dying vehicle. Albus hadn't written any love poems, (unless you counted the ones he wrote in his head) and he certainly had _not_ sung them out loud. "I-I w-wasn't—I didn't—I-I-I—n-no way!" he stammered, not convincing anybody.

"You're a liar!" James snarled to Lily, who was cackling again and clearly enjoying this. "I didn't—lip-ups—what the _heck_?—six-pack—I already _have_ a six-pack!"

The color drained from Albus's face. How did James have a six-pack at only fourteen? Was it even possible? Could Albus invent a spell to give himself a six-pack? Did girls—especially Elina—like those?

"I really feel sorry for you," Lily finished, patting Elina on the shoulder in a sympathetic manner. "These two are gross. There's the loser nerd, and the arrogant idiot. Take your pick."

At this point, Albus and James were plotting to viciously murder their sister, and Lily was finally looking suitably ashamed of herself—though this was perhaps because of the furious glares she was receiving from her older brothers. Elina laughed nervously, her face very red. Albus hoped that she hadn't believed a word of Lily's nonsense.

Fortunately, Lily was saved from an untimely death by the hands of her brothers by the arrival of their parents, Neville, and Hannah. "And I was thinking to switch around the curriculum this year," Neville was saying to Ginny, who was pretending to look interested. "Those Venomous Tentactulas nearly killed two of my students last year. They were in the Hospital Wing for three days, and I was wracked with guilt. I think we should move them from third-year curriculum to fifth-year curriculum..."

"Yes, Neville. Well, there's no point keeping Harry and Ginny here any longer," said Hannah, trying in vain to get her husband to shut up.

When Neville saw Elina, however, he changed subjects. "Oh, yes, I almost forgot to tell you. This is Elina Lyon—she's Luke Irving's daughter and lives at the school—and she's here today with me."

"We can take her around Diagon Alley, if she wants," Ginny offered while Harry nodded enthusiastically.

Elina blushed, clearly overwhelmed that two extremely famous people were being so friendly to her.

"James and Albus talk about you a lot. We've all been waiting to meet you," added Ginny, giving her sons a sideways sly look.

Elina beamed, not noticing the Potter brothers reddening at their mother's look. "I've got money of my own, don't worry," she said quickly. "But I already have my school supplies. I mean—I live at Hogwarts—my daddy's Professor Luke Irving—"

"Neville's already told us. You're perfectly welcome to come with us," Ginny assured her. "Well, we've got to get going." She turned sternly to her three children. "Hand over your booklists. We're going to Flourish and Blotts first."

The walk through Diagon Alley was as torturous as always, since everyone was staring at the family and snapping pictures. Girls were glaring jealously at Elina and wondering why she was walking beside James—the teenage heartthrob—and middle-aged women were glaring at Ginny with equal jealousy. Everyone ignored Albus, whose looks did nothing to set him apart. Several young children came running forward to ask for autographs, and the family had to stop every five minutes to sign pieces of parchment or to take photos. Harry Potter and anyone related to him were celebrities, every breath of theirs documented and published in a magazine. Albus was more of an infamous celebrity nowadays—the freak middle son in Slytherin who had supposedly disappointed his father and the rest of his family. Nobody asked for his autograph, which was perfectly fine by him.

On the way, he also noticed large Wanted posters of Rayan Lyserian. Multicolored pictures of a man with untamed dark curls and blazing golden eyes—_pure_ golden eyes that seriously looked like twenty-four karat gold—shining with cruelty and insanity, glared back at Albus, making him shiver slightly.

In Flourish and Blotts, they asked the clerk to take them to the books they needed. The clerk almost tripped over himself to help the famous family, though he shoved the textbook _Unfogging the Future _painfully into Albus's chest, giving him a nasty look. After they were done getting all their textbooks, they went to Madam Malkin's, where the witch who dressed Albus complained that he was too scrawny for a boy his age. Then they went to Quidditch Quality Supplies, where James threw a tantrum for the newest broomstick.

"Dad, it's the Lightningbolt III!" he begged, practically getting on his knees. "Dad, come on! The original Lightningbolt is nothing compared to the third! I'm getting too good for it! You've got to get me the Lightningbolt III! Dad, don't you want Gryffindor to win?"

"Yeah, Dad," Albus sneered. "See, James has this problem where he has no talent, so he's got to rely on his broomstick. I've got the old Firebolt, and I've never lost a match." He looked at Elina to see whether she had heard, but she was examining a bizarre pair of hot pink Quidditch gloves and wasn't paying any attention to the conversation.

James let out a snarl and gave Albus a death glare, who returned it happily. In an attempt to stop a full-scale war from breaking out between the brothers, their father quickly said, "If you've got your broomstick-grooming kits, we'd better get going."

"DAD!" James raised his voice. "Come on! My birthday's coming up this September! Can't you get it for my fifteenth birthday? _Daaad_!"

"James, your father said no, and that's final," snapped Ginny, seizing a half-sobbing James by the arm and dragging him away from the display, a delighted Albus watching the proceedings with a sadistic smirk on his face.

On their way to the apothecary, Harry tried to cheer James up by saying, "You know that Hogwarts is ordering seventy Comet 300's for the events going on at Hogwarts this year, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," James muttered uninterestedly, aiming a kick at Albus, who dodged.

"Daddy?" Lily widened her brown eyes and fixed them on her mother and father once they were done picking up Potions supplies (Albus had stalled for a long time here, stuffing extra ingredients in his pockets and trying to sneak them out). "Can I pretty please get a pet? _Please_?"

Harry and Ginny, who had spoilt their daughter beyond belief, did not hesitate in taking the whole family to Eeylops Owl Emporium, which was filled with little children whose squeals and screeches were louder than those of the owls. Lily glanced at the owls, got bored, and declared that she wanted a cat. Deciding to put the visit off, they stopped for a rest at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. While they sat and licked at their various flavors of ice cream, James put an arm around Elina and made her laugh at one of his stupid jokes, which caused Albus to clench his fist and unintentionally crush his ice cream cone without realizing that he had done it—until the scoops slid off and splattered onto the ground.

Lily looked mournfully at the crushed cone. "If you didn't like it, I would've eaten it for you."

But Albus was too busy glaring at James and Elina laughing together to care much about his ice cream. He wanted to steal her attention away from his brother, but knew that he wouldn't be able to. Next to someone like James, he didn't have a chance.

"Look, why don't Lily and I go get her wand and pet?" suggested Albus's mother after they were done eating the ice-cream (or in Albus's case—done glaring hatefully at James). "You can take the rest to Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, and we can meet up there. Ron and Hermione said that they'll be going there around four o'clock, and it's about that time right now."

"All right," their father agreed. "These three"—he gestured to Albus, James, and Elina—"look close to keeling over anyways. They should have a rest at WWW." Gratefully, they walked to Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, lugging their heavy supplies until Harry decided levitated their packages for them. As they approached WWW, Albus saw that it was even more full than usual. Every Hogwarts student in the country seemed to have been meeting here, and the shop was packed until bursting point. Albus noticed a sign hanging on the door that clearly said: NO SLYTHERINS PERMITTED PAST THIS POINT.

Elina went in first, looking awed, followed by Harry, who was laughing at the display that featured a picture of a man who'd had Invisible Ink splattered on him, causing all his clothes to turn invisible. Albus made to go in next, but James pushed him into the wall and went in first, smirking and wagging his finger at the 'NO SLYTHERINS PERMITTED PAST THIS POINT' sign. Albus seethed in fury, ripped the sign off, and threw it to the ground. Before he could follow James through the door to strangle him, however, someone grabbed his shoulder and dragged him away from the store.

"_What the_—"

It was Scorpius Malfoy, one of his two best friends (the other was Rose Weasley). He now stood an inch or so taller than Albus, but his hair was as pale and greased back as ever, and his nose was still snobbishly pointed.

"I've been looking all over for you," Scorpius said. "And you do know that Slytherins aren't allowed to go in there, right? There was a sign—"

"Does it look like I care?" Albus snapped. He kicked the sign away with such fury that it crashed against the wall and broke into two.

"Okay, okay, keep your head on," Scorpius said. "Anyways, I see that you're still alive."

"What do you mean?" Albus spluttered, his heart beating faster. Scorpius's words had reminded him of the note made from mud that had contained a death threat.

"I don't know—I just thought that you'd end up getting killed by some random professor." Scorpius shrugged, snickering.

All the color drained from Albus's face. "Thanks a lot."

Scorpius didn't seem to care. "Are you going into WWW or not?"

"Where are your parents?" asked Albus, ignoring Scorpius's question.

"I don't know." This seemed to make Scorpius bad-tempered. "I ditched them."

"Did you have a fight?" asked Albus, sympathetic.

"We're always fighting." Scorpius shrugged again. "Can we get into WWW now? I've never been there. I kind of want to crash the party." He glared at the teenagers who were laughing inside the store.

"Agreed," said Albus, smirking. Hesitating for the smallest second at the door, they stepped in. The temperature dropped noticeably, and everyone who had seen them come in glared at them. Their hostile looks made one thing clear to the two Slytherin boys: they weren't welcome here. Keeping their heads down, not as bold as they'd been outside, they hid behind a display of various classic joke sweets.

"Any sign of anyone we know?" asked Scorpius, furtively looking around for enemies.

"There." Albus nodded towards a group of rowdy Gryffindor boys—which included James—who were trying to embarrass each other with Babbling Bowties, Throat Ticklers, and Knee Knockers. Eric Derlwin, who Scorpius passionately hated, was among this crowd as well.

"It's _them_," spat Scorpius. "Find a Spanking Spyglass and chuck it at Derlwin's rear end."

"I'm getting a Creepy-Crawly Creature"—Albus looked pointedly at a shelf of various fake animated animals with many legs and eyes—"and hiding it in James's bed. If that doesn't work, I'm switching his clothes with Tarantula Trainers."

"Can we get some of that Invisible Ink and throw it at Derlwin?" asked Scorpius hopefully.

"Spitting Snakes," Albus snorted. "From the Slytherins, with love."

They both spent the next few minutes imagining what they would do to the boys that made their lives hell. They were just getting into the details of how they would poison them when someone tapped Albus's shoulder.

"Hey, you two, why are you hiding behind here?" Behind them stood Rose Weasley. Rose, for some reason, had decided to have a makeover this summer. It had been little by little, so Albus had eventually gotten used to it. The first day of using WonderWitch products, Rose looked just about the same as she always did. The second day, the difference was more pronounced, and even _more _pronounced the third day, and even more so the fourth day, and even more so the fifth day, until Albus had completely accepted it and didn't blink an eye when she appeared next to him looking like someone who had just left Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions or Madam Sparklyn's Magical Salon.

Scorpius, however, had not gotten used to this version of Rose. He stiffened, not responding to her question.

"If we left this hiding spot," began Albus dryly, "we'd be murdered before we take three steps."

"Don't be silly," Rose sniffed. "_Scorpy_, what's with you?" She smirked at Scorpius, knowing that calling him 'Scorpy' would infuriate him.

Scorpius didn't even bother to berate Rose for calling him 'Scorpy' (he hated nicknames of all types). Instead, he simply stared at her, his face turning whiter than it already was. "I've got to go," he muttered, slipping away and making his way to the exit.

"Why?" Rose looked disappointed.

He didn't answer. He just stepped out of the store, not waiting to leave before breaking out into a run and getting as far away as he could from Rose as possible.

Rose looked very hurt. "What's his problem?" She glared at Scorpius's retreating figure. "I missed him! Why is he running away like that? _Really_?"

"I'm sure he was just... overwhelmed." Albus tried in vain to explain Scorpius's abrupt disappearance, but Rose wasn't hearing any of it. She had just noticed Eric Derlwin and the crowd of Gryffindor boys and was making her way towards them. Derlwin immediately brightened at the sight of her and leaned casually on her shoulder, gloating at the fact that he claimed such a pretty girl.

Albus scowled. If there was one thing he didn't want, it was for Rose to get together with Derlwin. Deciding to leave the scene before anyone noticed him, he crept behind the displays. To his surprise, he spotted his Uncle George putting up new products—an array of colorful ribbons that were labeled Ripping Ribbons. Uncle George's appearance was very bizarre to those who weren't used to him. One of his ears was normal, but the other was a modified Extendable Ear that could hear things for miles around if he so desired.

It was no secret that Uncle George despised Albus. He tried not to show it and tried to be civil towards him, but Albus could tell that it was a strain for him. His uncle hated Slytherins, and Albus was sure the reason was his dead twin, Fred, who had died fighting against Death Eaters and former Slytherins in the Second Wizarding War. Uncle George inclined his head towards Albus. "Doing well?" Usually, if he was talking to someone completely non-serpent, he would add a joke or two to lighten the mood, but not with Albus.

Albus sighed before saying, "Yeah."

Uncle George didn't say anything else. He simply swept off, levitating some boxes to add to the stock of the classic Puking Pastilles. Albus stared after him, wishing that Uncle George would put the past behind him and accept that Slytherins weren't the same bloodthirsty, power-hungry villains they had once been.

Shaking his head like he was warning off a fly, Albus continued along the narrow aisle between the shelves overflowing with jokes. His destination was the defense room, a small room in the store that was reserved for objects that were useful in defending yourself. This was his favorite room, primarily because it was quiet and nobody threw stuff at him there.

After slithering through a group of seventh year girls who were discussing tactics on slipping the boys they fancied love potions, Albus arrived at the small area filled with protective magical gear and other defensive gimmicks. The light here was dim, and he could barely see a figure standing at the end of the room, examining some of the ancient Shield Hats, which had been invented more than two decades ago but were still extremely useful.

It was Elina. Albus was surprised that she wasn't outside, surrounded by people. But, perhaps, she had wanted to get out of the crowd like he had. Perhaps they weren't so different after all, even if they were on opposite ends of the Hogwarts social ladder.

When the door swung closed behind Albus with a creak, she whirled around, looking startled. "Oh, hello, Al." She grinned at him and waved.

His legs suddenly felt like jelly, but he managed to compose himself. He leaned against the wall casually, running a hand through his hair in what he hoped was an arrogant I-don't-care-about-anything attitude. When he spoke, he tried to make his voice as low and smooth as possible. _"Hey_."

The effect of this was ruined _slightly_ by the rapid reddening of his face and stumbling where he stood when Elina smiled at him again. She placed the Shield Hat she had been looking at a moment earlier back on the shelf and picked up another ancient artifact—some Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, which had come into use for Albus the previous term while escaping from Professor Hershel Heartley and Vladimir Rylon.

"I like it here," she said unexpectedly. "All this stuff is amazing. Your uncle's a genius." Her pretty blue-violet eyes twinkled. "You must get it from him."

Albus blushed. He didn't act so cool this time. "N-No—I-I—" _Shut up and take the praise, you blithering idiot! _"Er—thanks," he mumbled, getting control of his voice again. "B-But he used h-his... inventing talent to make jokes. I-I'm not—I'm not that _fun_." So now, he was insulting himself. Of course, he couldn't really blame himself. His self-esteem was so low that it was in the negatives.

Elina shook her head. "You're plenty fun. Just in a different way."

Albus didn't think so, but he appreciated her effort all the same.

"Anyways," she said, effectively changing the subject. "Do you come in this room often?"

"Yeah. It's really quiet," he said, rather lamely.

"Nice, isn't it?" Elina asked. "My ears were hurting in the main part of the store." She laughed and picked up some Shield Gloves. "You wouldn't need these," she muttered, turning to face him.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Albus spluttered. His face was so warm at this point that you could probably cook something on it.

"You're a magical prodigy. You could probably put up a Shield Charm in your sleep," she told him. There was a smile on her face, but it was strained.

It took a few seconds for Albus to figure out why it was strained. "I'm sure you can cast a Shield Charm, too," he said, his voice steady.

"No," she said shortly. "I don't think I can. I told you last year—I'm awful at magic."

"You're not," said Albus firmly. "I've seen you do loads of things in classes. Ask anyone. Really."

Elina opened her mouth to protest, but closed it. "All right." Her smile seemed more natural now, and not nearly as forced.

As if her prettiness was pulling him towards her, he found himself walking across the room to where she was standing, not in control of his own movements. They were only a foot apart—if that—and Albus could smell her cinnamon-and-vanilla scented hair. It was intoxicating him.

She let out a small giggle. "Your glasses are crooked. They're always like that, aren't they?"

Turning a shade of purple that would have embarrassed an eggplant, Albus hastily tried to straighten his round, thick glasses. James had broken them so many times that they had never truly stayed fixed. Half the time, they were patched up with tape. Even the Mending Charm, _reparo_, had its limits. "Er—sorry," he muttered.

"No, I like it," she said, giggling again. Her laughter reminded Albus of music.

It was only then, perhaps, that they noticed that they were inches apart. Albus knew that both of them were thinking of the same moment last term—when they had been about to kiss after Albus had battled Cryptan and Elina had woken up from her coma in the Forbidden Forest. Unfortunately, they had been interrupted, and the hopes of kissing his dream girl had been swept away just as she had been swept away by James when he and the Aurors had arrived.

But they were alone now.

That was, at least, until the door banged open a rowdy crowd of boys poured in, howling with laughter and pushing each other into the shelves, as well as disturbing the peaceful atmosphere of the room. Unsurprisingly, James was the leader of the group. Albus's older brother had the nasty habit of squishing whatever romantic moments Albus and Elina had and taking them for himself. When he noticed Albus so close to the girl he fancied, the expression on his face hardened, but was soon replaced by a smirk.

"So, how're you two doing?" James asked, throwing an arm around Elina's shoulder and fixing Albus with the world's deadliest glare. Albus, however, was too busy seething at how close James and Elina were to be suspicious of James's strangely civil behavior.

When Albus did not reply, James's smirk widened. Then, he did something that was so unusual that it would probably go down in the history books. He actually moved his arm off Elina's shoulder, stepped over to Albus's side, and threw his arm around his shoulder, saying, "Hey, _little bro_."

Albus froze, fighting the urge to run away screaming at the top of his voice. There was something extremely suspicious about this. The last time that James had behaved distinctly brotherly towards him had been before Albus had been Sorted into Slytherin. If James was acting friendly for some reason, it was because he had hidden motives.

And, just as Albus had suspected, James had a hidden motive indeed. His hand snaked towards Albus's collar and pinned a small bowtie there. Albus, horrified at was he was sure was some sort of cruel joke, opened his mouth to snarl, "_What_?" But '_what_' didn't come out. Instead, a garbled jumble of unintelligible noises escaped from his mouth. _Babbling Bowties._ He should have known. James threw his head back and howled with laughter, and so did all of his cronies. Albus tried to speak again, but the string of noises that he made did not resemble words in the slightest. Elina was biting her lip and straining to keep a straight face, trying to hold back laughter. He couldn't quite blame her—he was sure that he looked ridiculous.

Furious and embarrassed, Albus ripped the bowtie off and stalked out of the room. Why did James always have to humiliate him in the worst ways possible? This had probably been a cruel way to get back at him for talking to Elina. _It's just like him to ruin everything, _thought Albus to himself, ignoring the catcalls and jeers of the people in the store and stepping outside.

The sun was lower in the sky now, and Albus realized that it was around six o'clock. Night would be coming within the next two hours, but the sunlight at that moment was bright enough to light the way out of the street in front of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. He knew that if his father noticed his disappearance, he'd be furious and worried. But Albus didn't quite care about that now. All he wanted was to get away—get away from all the hatred. He was sick and tired of it. No matter how hard he tried to block it out, it was still there, like an itch. An itch that was more _painful _than irritating.

Albus wasn't quite sure where he was, except that it was dark here. The strangely tall red brick walls stretched on either side of him, hiding the sun and sky from him and casting shadows over the ground. He looked left and right, trying to figure out his location. He suspected that he had wandered into a small street behind WWW while he had been immersed in his depressing thoughts. Now slightly panicked and attempting to find his way out, Albus took a step backwards, trying to retrace his steps and go back to where he had come from.

But, for some strange reason, his feet didn't want to move. They seemed glued to the earthen ground. Confused, Albus tried to take a step, but found that the soles of his shoes were attached to the ground. How could that be? He reached down to try and pry his shoes off the ground, but they wouldn't budge. It didn't make any sense. How was he stuck in place? Had James somehow tagged him with another prank, like Sticking Shoes? Rolling his eyes at the stupidity of it all, Albus untied his shoelaces and tried to step out of his shoes. He'd walk back to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in socks, get a new pair of shoes, and kick James in a place where it would hurt—_badly_.

That didn't work, though. To Albus's utter shock, his socks were held fast to the ground, just as his shoes had been. What prank was this? Now deeply irritated and planning to complain to Uncle George, Albus reached down to take off his socks. He wished that he'd had his wand so that he could fix the problem. Cursing the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery (which he thought was quite unreasonable), Albus began to pull off his left sock, but found that it had sunk into the ground.

Albus stared at his now vanished feet. He was suddenly ankle deep in mud. But how had the hard-packed earth turned into squishy mud all of a sudden? This certainly was _not_ a prank. Truly panicking, Albus tried to pull his legs out, but they were sinking deeper and deeper into the ground.

And then, a hoarse whisper came from what seemed like the ground itself.

"_Do you hear me, Albus Severus Potter?"_

Albus let out a strangled gasp and desperately tried to escape. To whom—or _what_—did that voice belong to? Was it really coming from beneath the ground?

"L-Let me go!" he said feebly, now waist deep in the ground.

"_Not until you pass the test." _The voice was so quiet that he had to strain to hear it. But it was still terrifying. The voice was ruthless and uncaring, as if it belonged to a living corpse who wanted vengeance.

"W-What test?" Albus's shoulders were underneath the surface. He could feel the mud pushing on him, trying to choke him, swirling around his legs and arms and binding them to his body. He had to get out of here... "Who are you?" he spat, furious.

"_You know who I am."_

The very sentence caused shivers to go down Albus's back.

"_You got the note."_

Albus was starting to choke. His breath was getting caught in his throat, which was now underground. He only had a few more seconds left. _Rayan Lyserian?_ he thought. He tried to thrash around in order to escape, but his legs and arms seemed to be frozen. Whatever thoughts of resisting he'd had dropped out his brain a second later, however. A figure was rising from the mud in front of him as Albus sunk deeper into to the ground. He let out a shocked gasp that immediately turned into a cough.

In front of him was a man. A tall, terrifying man that seemed to be made completely out of mud. His skin was dark and soft, as if he had been crafted out of clay—a masterpiece sculpture. He was wearing dark brown robes that seemed to be half velvet and half dirt. Though the rest of his body seemed thoroughly earthen, his head seemed completely human. His face was pale, shockingly contrasting with the rest of his body. His hair was untamed and black, and his eyes were the brightest golden.

What_ was_ this? Why was Rayan Lyserian suddenly half-human and half-mud?

"_You know who I am," _the voice repeated.

Albus's mouth was underground, and he couldn't say a word. Desperation was taking over him, taking over his senses. Sound was roaring in his ears, though the street was completely quiet. A truly curious feeling was rippling through him, leaving him numb to everything but the feeling. And then, Albus felt a dark, evil power thudding through his veins. His eyes began to glow like bright green beacons, and so did the rest of his body. A feeling of wonderful, exhilarating invincibility came over him, and he felt empowered, like nothing could strike him down.

A great shockwave emanated from him, blasting all the mud away. Albus, feeling as though his limbs weren't in his control, stood up and looked around, his green eyes glowing unnaturally. He clenched his fist and opened it again. Now, tendrils of lightning were dancing across his fingers. "I'll fight you!" he shouted, his mouth moving of its own accord. This was a different part of him—the ruthless, cunning part. His whole body was glowing so brightly green that he was nothing but a sphere of bright green light.

The half-earthen Rayan Lyserian was nowhere to be seen.

"I'll _kill_ you! You can't defeat me!" Albus whirled around, desperately looking around for his enemy. The dark power was taking over his senses, not allowing him to think properly. All he felt was that savage urge to fight, to destroy, and to _win_.

"_You have passed the first test. Your score: high."_

Silence. Dead silence. All was sickeningly quiet, and nothing moved. The dark power melted away into nothingness, and dizziness and exhaustion replaced it. Albus's vision was spinning, his stomach was lurching, and his head was splitting. He stopped glowing and swayed on his feet, trying to support himself. But he was too weak to, and he sank to the ground. He crouched there, gasping and shuddering. He was no longer the combative, cunning boy he had been a moment ago. He was once more the stuttering, spluttering fool that he usually was.

_What just happened to me?_

Albus wasn't sure how long he had stayed there, on the ground that was now hard again, but he properly came to his senses when he noticed that the sun had almost set. His sore limbs screaming out in protest, he dragged himself to his feet and staggered down the mercifully empty back street, probably looking like a swamp monster with his muddy hair, clothes, hair and Inferi-like appearance.

"Look at my new cat!" Lily was gushing to nobody in particular. In her arms lay a beautiful, soft white cat. "I named him Crookshanks! Oh—and my wand—it's really powerful. Ollivander said that my wand is the kind of wand that would choose a Seer—"

"Where's Al? Did any of you see him?" Harry was asking James and Elina.

"Who cares?" James sneered. "Probably bawling his eyes out somewhere."

"James! What you did back there was horrible!" Elina snapped. "When Al comes back, you'd better apologize—"

His mother noticed him first. "AL!"

He came out of the alley behind the store and stumbled towards his parents. They ran forward to hug him, but their expressions of relief immediately turned into expressions of horror at his appearance.

"Al—what happened to you?" gasped Ginny, looking disbelieving.

"Say something!" urged Harry, running forward to catch an exhausted Albus as he fell to the ground.

Using his powers had somehow drained all the energy out of him, and Albus could barely muster up enough strength to say the words, "Dad, y-you know that assassin _you're_ after? He's after _me_."

* * *

**Author's Note: Guess what I did this weekend instead of studying for my tests? I edited/rewrote Book One! I've done up to chapter eight so far, and I'll continue later. You don't need to reread it or anything, it's just better written now, and there's a few sentences that weren't there before.**

**Anyways, please review!**


	4. Terraxes & Tutterskope

**-Chapter Four-**

**Terraxes & Tutterskope**

After dropping Elina off at the Leaky Cauldron with Neville and Hannah so that she could use the Floo Network to get back to Hogwarts, the Potter family returned to Godric's Hollow in utter silence. The moment that Albus shot out of the fireplace at his home, his parents attacked him with questions that they had been bursting to keep inside. His mother ushered him over to the couch while she whipped out her wand and waved it, causing the mud all over him to disappear. After that, she shooed both Lily and James out of the sitting room, though Albus suspected they were standing on the steps and listening to every word.

"Tell us everything," Harry ordered.

"I-I got a note three days ago," he mumbled, trying to look anywhere but at anyone else. "It said that an assassin was after me."

"That's why you were acting funny," said his father, sitting down next his son. "Why didn't you _tell_ us?"

"I don't know!" Albus practically wailed. "I-I just thought it'd go away, t-that it was some stupid prank or a h-hallucination." He let out a groan and buried his head in his father's shoulder.

Ginny was trying to keep calm. "But why would an assassin be after a schoolboy?"

Albus sighed in exasperation.

Harry seemed to be clinging on the hope that an assassin really wasn't after his son. "Maybe it wasn't Rayan Lyserian. Tell us exactly what he looked like."

"H-He was tall—he was made out of mud. His body was, but not his face. H-His hair was black and curly, kind of long, and his eyes were a really bright golden. He looked like t-the picture of Rayan Lyserian in the newspapers, but, like I said, he w-was made out of mud..." Albus's voice was shaking with exhaustion, and his headache was getting worse. He wanted to go to sleep. Why did using his powers—if that was what they were—make him so tired?

"What exactly happened?" Harry asked. "Did he say something to you?"

"I-I think he w-was controlling the ground," Albus stammered. "He dragged m-me under..." He stopped talking, hesitating. He didn't want to tell his parents about the glowing, or how powerful he had felt at that moment when he had blasted the mud away. "Er—and then he let me go."

His parents stared at him. "He let you go? Just like that? Why? If he's trying to kill you, why would he let you go so easily?" Ginny asked.

"I-I don't know," Albus muttered. "Look, can I go to bed?"

"You have to tell us everything," Harry urged while Ginny put an arm around Albus and kissed him on the forehead. "What did he say to you?"

"After he let go of me"—_after I blasted him away, rather—_"he said something like 'you passed the test' and said that my score was high. I-I really d-don't know..." Albus ran a hand through his hair.

"Al, I'm going to the Auror Office right away," said Harry. "If the escaped prisoner is after you, I'm going to need to give you as much protection as I possibly can. You should be safe at Hogwarts, but when you go to Hogsmeade, you'll have to come along with an Auror. I won't let anything hurt you. _You'll be safe_."

"Al, go upstairs," said Ginny. "You should get some sleep. You look dead on your feet."

Relieved, Albus dragged himself up and stumbled from the sitting room, hearing his parents hissing whispers as soon as he walked out. When he reached the second-floor landing, though, he was barred by James.

"WHAT?" Albus roared. He was sick and tired, and he didn't want to deal with James's usual insults.

There was a very ugly sneer on James's face. "You think you're so special, don't you?"

Albus was speechless. He stared at James, disbelieving.

"Just because you've done some stupid things, you think that you're so great—"

Albus seized James by the collar. "You idiot!" he snarled. "Do you think I _asked_ for this? Do you think Iasked to be chased by demented wizards who want to _kill_ me? Are you _mad_? Are you absolutely _insane_? Are you _actually_ as stupid as you look?"

James stood there, stunned.

"Just leave me alone. If you want to save the day and chuck the assassin back into Azkaban, you be my guest. I don't want to stick my nose into trouble ever again. If you want to go make your death wish, fine by me."

Albus turned on the spot, opened the door to his room, and slammed it so hard that the walls shook.

He let out a deep sigh and collapsed on his bed, his body hurting so much that he could barely support himself. Why did he feel so exhausted every time he used his powers? What did it all mean?

A moment later, he closed his eyes, trying to make sense of the swirling thoughts inside his head.

* * *

The days of the summer that remained melted into hours of staying cooped up inside while the sun shone outside, since his mother had prohibited from going outside without either her or his father. Albus had thought it too much of a bother and stayed inside his room, rarely leaving it. He would always check the windowsill where the mud-made letter had appeared first to see whether there was another—one that would shed more light on the situation. Sometimes, he would spend long stretches of time laying on his bed and thinking about everything that had happened.

He had used his powers again in Diagon Alley, and had almost collapsed afterwards. He was always tired after using them—he knew that from last year—but it had never been this bad. Perhaps he was getting more powerful? If that was true, then it must mean that he would be even more exhausted when the invincible feeling wore off.

And there was also the issue of the insane assassin after him. Had Rayan Lyserian had outside help in order to escape, or had he done it by himself? The most important of these questions, however, was why he was after him. Albus knew that one of his enemies remained—the one who had tried to kill him using the Scepter of Shadows, the one that had set the Tenebrums after him. He supposed that the person who wanted him dead so badly was angry at him for destroying the Phantasm Orb and damaging a part of the Paradox, Cryptan. And then, Albus remembered that Cryptan had a mentor of some sort—a horrible blue-skinned man with an inhumane features. This mentor must have been the one to set the Tenebrums on Albus—and he had put the Imperius Curse on Elina last term, too. That meant that he was at Hogwarts, didn't it? It was likely that this same 'mentor' had sent Rayan Lyserian to assassinate Albus, angry that Albus had triumphed twice already. But was that the only person remaining that wanted Albus dead? Or were there even more? Was there, perhaps, a whole group of people who followed the orders of Cryptan and his mentor? Did they _all_ want Albus dead? There were so many questions, and he wanted—no, he _needed_—to find the answers.

Finally, September 1st arrived. The day was bright and sunny like ever other day that summer, but when Albus walked downstairs that morning, it was with a raincloud above his head. His father, perpetually busy with finding leads having to do with the recapture of the escaped prisoner, looked even more exhausted than Albus himself.

An hour later, the Potter family walked out into the front yard and got into their new Ford Anglia, (now an antique) which was a sparkling turquoise color. The car had been a present from their grandfather, who'd had a car like it once. Albus gently placed his snowy owl Herwina's cage in the backseat, but James knocked it over, causing Herwina to screech in indignation and flap her wings frantically. To add to the problem, Lily chucked Crookshanks, her new white cat that she had named after Aunt Hermione's deceased pet, into the backseat as well, which made him scratch up the seats and try to jump out through the closed windows. When the three Potter children squeezed into the car after everything had settled down, they realized that it was quite spacious. All three of them could stretch out and lie back, but James still decided to squish Albus's face against the window for three whole minutes until Ginny saw him and threatened James that she'd take away all of his WWW products if he continued to hurt his little brother. Harry finished loading all the trunks into the back and got into the driver's seat. The doors slammed shut by themselves, and Harry started up the car.

"Are you ready, kids?" Their father and mother were both grinning. The three Potter children stared at each other, alarmed at the fact that their parents were so happy. "Put your seatbelts on, and get ready for a ride." The mischievous glint in their parents' eyes shone brighter.

And, a second later, they found out why. Harry pushed a large red button on the dashboard, and the car and its occupants turned completely invisible. He pulled the stick to the flying setting, and the invisible car hovered in the air. Then, they were off, swooping over Godric's Hollow. It was the strangest sensation, as Albus could only see his family members' eyeballs. His father must have opened the windows, because Albus could feel the wind whipping his hair around. Lily shrieked in delight, while James let out a great whoop. Albus peered down at the towns below him, grinning. The people looked like ants, and the cars looked like beetles. As he looked at the grand world beneath him, all his worries disappeared.

This was _definitely_ the way to travel.

* * *

Albus dragged himself through the corridors of the Hogwarts Express, which was already thundering down the iron tracks that led to the magical castle. He found that it was easier for him to carry his trunk, and he was stronger and taller than he had been last year (though he was still positively scrawny). He slowed down once he had reached the compartments at the back of the train. This part was reserved for the dodgiest and sneakiest of students: Albus' kingdom—the Slytherins. Several of them waved to him as he passed. He was their king, and he was welcomed as an old friend.

A few minutes later, he spotted the compartment he was looking for. Scorpius was in it, stretched out on one of the sides as if taking a nap. Oswald Nesbitt, a fellow Slytherin third-year, was on the other side, his nose buried in a comic book titled _The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle_.

Scorpius paled at the sight of Albus. "Rose isn't with you, is she?"

"No..." Albus gave his friend a strange look. "Why don't you want to see her? Oh, and I meant to ask you, why did you run away when she turned up in Diagon Alley? What was that all about?"

Scorpius groaned, while Oswald simply looked confused. "What? What happened in Diagon Alley?" he asked.

"Yeah. Tell us." Albus fixed Scorpius with a glare.

"She looked weird!" Scorpius said angrily. "I couldn't talk to her! So I just ran, okay? Don't look at me like that!" He sat up and buried his head in his arms.

"She didn't look _that_ pretty," said Albus, raising an eyebrow. "She's still the same—"

"I never said she was pretty!" Scorpius snapped, color flooding his cheeks.

"She's actually mad at you," said Albus. "She was hurt that you ran like that. You'd better apologize."

"Fine," muttered Scorpius. He seemed to be in a very bad mood. "I'll say sorry. Now, shut up."

"So, how was your summer?" Oswald asked Albus, in an attempt to distract him from Scorpius's rudeness.

Albus didn't know where to start, so he simply said, "Completely and utterly awful."

Oswald gave him a sympathetic look and buried his nose in his comic book once again. Scorpius put his face against the window and peered out at the surroundings. As they traveled northwards, the weather changed drastically. It started to rain, and dark, ominous clouds covered the sky. Albus struggled with his trunk, but was too weak to lift it, so he left it in the middle of the compartment. He desperately needed a spell that would give him muscles. Groaning, he threw himself into the seat next Oswald.

Three hours later, the compartment door slid open, and Gerald Erwett, a second year who idolized Albus, came running in. "ALBUS! ALBUS! You're here! I knew you'd be! You've got to come and help us! Matthew Flint challenged us to a game of chess, and we're losing really badly. I bet a lot of money on that game. Come on!"

Albus, who had been half asleep, jerked awake and gazed around, narrowing his eyes against the bright light. He finally focused on the small boy in front of him that was bouncing up and down like a rabbit. "Why have you been betting?" said Albus. For some reason, he was fond of the annoying second year. Gerald Erwett had been one of the unlucky students that had been attacked and sent into the magical coma by the Tenebrums last year. Like Albus, Gerald was bullied quite a bit, but he was just as cunning and had managed to trick them.

"You can't disapprove," moaned Gerald. "Just go save the chess game for us!"

"Scorpius, Oswald, are you coming?" asked Albus. Oswald quickly shook his head, but Scorpius yawned, stretched, and followed Albus and Gerald out of the compartment.

"Al better get beaten badly by Flint, or it'll be a waste of time," mumbled Scorpius, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey!" said Gerald angrily. "Albus doesn't lose at anything, right?"

Albus chuckled nervously. He was very good at chess, comparable to his Uncle Ron. The two of them had actually participated in a legendary game when Albus had been ten that lasted five hours until only the two kings and three pawns were left. The game had ended prematurely because James, Fred, Louis, Dominique, and Roxanne had set off fireworks and caused the remaining pieces to scatter off the board, screaming at the top of their tiny voices.

The compartment that the chess game was taking place was at the very end of the train, and it was packed full with Slytherin boys and girls. A very sweaty looking fifth-year girl was gazing at the board, trying to find an escape while her opponent, a tall, pallid seventh-year boy, leered down at her. "Quit?" he cackled. Albus recognized him as Matthew Flint, one of the people who had supported Vladimir Rylon's reign the previous year. Albus narrowed his eyes, and smirked. This was the perfect chance to teach Rylon's followers a lesson. They wouldn't ever disobey their true King—Albus—ever again.

"Having trouble?" Albus entered the compartment and stood over the two players.

The fifth-year girl was Patty Parkinson, who was teased and bullied a lot due to her unflattering features and body. She looked up at Albus angrily. "Finally, someone's turned up!" She immediately shut up when she saw who it was. You were always respectful to Albus Potter in the House of Slytherin, no matter what. "Sorry," she muttered a moment later.

"It's fine," said Albus lightly. "So, need me to take your place?"

Patty grimaced. "It's unwinnable. Impossible. I mean, thanks for getting me out of here, but you're not gonna win." She stood up and fled the compartment, looking relieved to have the pressure taken off her shoulders.

Albus sat down and sized up his opponent. Matthew Flint was very clever and cunning, and he liked to swindle younger Slytherins out of their money. He could win any game, hands down. Often, he cheated, but nobody much cared about that in Slytherin. "Should we continue from where she left it?" asked Albus.

"Very well," growled Flint. "Good luck, little boy. Your turn."

Albus's smile was cold, and so was his gaze. "All right." He took a long look at the board, running each possibility through his head. At first, the half-finished game indeed seemed unwinnable. The king was almost at check, and a few moves later, it would be at checkmate.

"Potter's not going to win."

"Flint's never lost before."

"I'm going to get fifty galleons before the train ride is over, I assure you..."

Then, Albus knew what to do. He ordered his king to move diagonally. Flint threw his head back and laughed. "Why did you move your king first? That's the stupidest move I've heard of!"

"Is it?" Albus narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Tell me, how will the soldiers win if their king doesn't _lead_ them? The king is always the leader. If he doesn't do his job, you might as well quit the game."

It was the strangest strategy any of them had ever heard of, but the King of Slytherin knew what he was doing. In five minutes, Flint's king was under checkmate, and he looked shell-shocked. "Pay up." Albus was smirking. "How much did you bet? Twenty? Fifty?"

Flint growled and handed over the money to their respective owners. Then, determined not to be taken down, he smirked. "Good game. You're really the one. Sorry about last year."

"It's good that you're following the example of the chess pieces," said Albus shortly. "New game?"

Flint grinned wider. "I was waiting for you to ask." More Slytherins had crowded around the compartment, muttering, unable to believe that someone had beaten Flint.

"And, by the way," added Albus blandly as he ordered his pawn to move forward. "In the last game, I moved your pieces magically. Nobody noticed because I nonverbally cast an illusion on the board. So, you were basically playing a game that wasn't there. I mean, until I smashed your king. That's when I let you see the real board."

Flint looked outraged, but everyone else laughed.

"Hey, it's a cult gathering!" said a snide voice from the entrance of the compartment. The Slytherins let out hisses and faced the intruders, which were a crowd of the popular Gryffindor thugs.

"James, get out," ordered Albus, his voice icy.

"I just wanted to break this little serpent meeting up." James put his hands up in the air innocently, but nobody was fooled. "It's against the rules. In fact, all of you're against the rules. We like to keep the train clean, and you've been leaving slime all around. We don't like it."

"If you're bored, go do something else. Can't you just do whatever you idiots do in your free time, like explode your compartment by playing Exploding Snap, or slip pranks into everyone's suitcases when they aren't looking, or go snog random girls?" said Albus angrily.

"Done that, done that, and _definitely_ done that," said fourth-year Garret Abath, one of James's best mates.

"We're really bored," said James. "You'll entertain us, won't you, Alpus Snivellus?"

At that moment, one of the Slytherins standing near James sent a hex at him, but James, yawning, blocked the jinx nonverbally. "Anyone else want to have a go?" he chuckled.

Albus took out his wand. "Yeah. Try _me_."

He sent a nonverbal curse at James, which was blocked and absorbed into his shield. All of the Slytherins and Gryffindors leapt into the battle, and jets of light ricocheted around the compartment, illuminating it in red, green, orange, yellow, blue, and purple. Albus made one of the trunks jump to life and sent it tumbling onto a piggish sixth-year Gryffindor, who was trapped under it. But James, determined to outdo his brother, jinxed the seats to rip out of their place and attack the Slytherins who had sat on them. Furious, Albus caused the curtains to strangle the nearest Gryffindor, but James undid the curse and aimed a Bat-Bogey Hex at his younger brother, who blocked it and sent it back.

"What's going on here?" A cool female voice echoed around the compartment. Nobody paid attention to it, at least until the voice shouted, "Everyone stop fighting, _now_!" The tone was so cold and furious that everyone did as it asked.

Slowly, Albus turned to the source of the voice. A shockingly beautiful woman with dark blond hair and dark green eyes stood in the doorway, her face set. "Fighting? What's the meaning of this?"

Albus stared at her, dumbstruck by her beauty. Who was she? She was old enough to be a professor, but the only spot open was Potions. Was she the new Potions professor that his mother had mentioned? Something about the woman seemed vaguely familiar. Perhaps he had seen her when he had been very, very young.

"Someone explain," the woman hissed.

James assumed his usual charming grin. "Look, _we_"—he gestured to his Gryffindor friends—"didn't want any trouble. We were just minding our own business. The Slytherins—they're always causing trouble, by the way—came out and attacked us."

Albus blanched. He knew that this professor, like the rest, would blindly believe James.

But the woman simply laughed. She laughed so hard that the walls shook. James stepped away, looking alarmed. "Do you take me as a _fool_, boy?" the woman said, clutching her chest, still chuckling.

James shook his head desperately. "It's the truth."

"No, it isn't," snarled Albus. "We weren't doing anything. The Gryffindors got bored and decided to attack us out of nowhere. They always do it. Every time."

The woman gave him a short nod. "_You're_ telling the truth."

James's mouth dropped open. Nobody had trusted a Slytherin over a Gryffindor before. "Come on, he's a _snake_! Whoever you are, you've got to know that all of them lie all the time—"

"How hypocritical of you," said the woman coldly. "_You_ lied just now. And, Gryffindor boy, I'm the new Head of Slytherin and Potions professor. Gryffindors in this compartment, detentions for all of you. Slytherins, you're fine. A job well done in defending yourself. I award you twenty points."

James's mouth dropped open in outrage. "You—you—you can't!" he spat. "You can't give _me_ a detention!" He had barely ever gotten a detention before, since he was always let off due to his status as the famous next generation Golden Boy. "Do you know who my father is?"

"Do I _care_?" the woman sneered. "And if you lie so blatantly to me ever again, I'll _really_ show you what a Slytherin can do. Now, get out! OUT!"

Still steaming with fury, James and his cronies stalked out of the compartment. The Slytherins snickered and started fixing up the compartment. "As you may have overheard," said the woman lightly, "I'm the new Potions professor and Head of Slytherin. My name is Athena Sapienta. I'm determined to get the House Cup for Slytherin, no matter how unfair I have to be to the other Houses to do it. I hope we'll have a fun year." She smirked wider. "Every time you hex a Gryffindor, you earn five points for Slytherin. That's the new rule. And if they bother you, I can give them a detention with a snap of my fingers, even if they didn't do anything wrong. Just come see me. We'll keep this as fair as the rest of the school does. In other words—_not_ very fair at all."

All the Slytherins looked as if Christmas had come early.

"You there!" Sapienta pointed squarely at Albus. "You, come with me. You're the leader, aren't you?"

"Er..." Albus wondered how she had figured this out so quickly.

"Well, what are you doing, gaping there like a fish? Get out of the compartment and come with me! We have unfinished business!"

"Uh—er—I-I don't understand," he stammered.

But Athena Sapienta was already gone. He hesitated in the doorway for a second before following her down the aisle and slipping into an empty compartment at the front of the train. "I'm taking the train to Hogwarts," she explained to a nonplussed Albus. "It's my first year teaching."

"Y-You'll do a really good job," he offered weakly.

"Oh, I certainly will." She didn't thank him for praising her. "Now, I know who you are, so don't bother introducing yourself. You're Albus Severus Potter, the ruler of Slytherin, sometimes called Serpent King behind his back. You've been involved with some of the shadiest events that occurred at Hogwarts these last two years. However, to everyone else, you are considered the Loser of Hogwarts and the disgrace of his family."

Albus looked at her, amazed. "H-How—how do you—I-I—_what_?"

"I hear things, Potter," Sapienta explained. "I think I owe you an explanation. Do I seem familiar to you?"

Albus still had no idea what was going on, but he decided to answer her questions in order to shed some light on the situation. "Er—you kind of do."

"All right." Looking pleased, she patted the seat next to her, inviting him to sit down. He did so, gulping uncertainly. "We met when you were three years old. In fact, you intrigued me, so I took the job of Potions professor in the hopes that I would get to see you. I contacted your mother and father and explained who I was—"

"Uh—sorry—but why did we meet when I was three?" asked Albus.

"Oh, dear, I'm afraid that I'm getting ahead of myself," Sapienta chuckled. "I was supposedly a Healer from St. Mungo's. You were an emotionless child when you were young, and I somehow managed to fix that. But the Child Healer was just a false identity. Unfortunately, your mother and father—who are involved in everything, even teaching applications—recognized me when I applied for the job at Hogwarts and cornered me. I had to explain that I had tricked them. They weren't too pleased, but they still owed me for fixing you."

"W-Why did you want to see me? Why did you go to the troubles of making a fake identity of a Healer?" asked Albus skeptically.

"There are several answers to that, and I can't tell any of them to you," Sapienta stated blandly.

"T-That's not fair! I should know! W-Why did you want to see me so badly?" said Albus.

"Shut up," she ordered.

He closed his mouth, realizing that the matter was closed.

"Anyways," Sapienta continued. "I decided to come to Hogwarts to see you again. That's why I'm here."

"Any particular reason why you came all the way here to see me?" asked Albus coldly. He scooted away from her, remembering to keep his guard up. Sapienta did not look very trustworthy. It was highly possible that she was after Albus to kill him. He had become far more paranoid, especially after so many attempts at his life.

"You're an intriguing individual. I suspect we'll be very good friends," said Sapienta.

Albus gritted his teeth. He didn't like this woman at all. Why was she so interested in him? Was she another one of those insane people who wanted him dead? _No, _thought Albus suddenly. _She wouldn't say that she had come to Hogwarts for me. That's much too obvious. If she was really here to kill me, or spy on me, she'd be discreet, not come up to me inform me that she's practically been tracking me._

Relieved, he turned back to Sapienta, who was watching him closely. It was disconcerting. Shuddering, he tore his gaze away from hers and looked out the window. The rain was getting worse, and he could hear the howl of the wind outside. "Let's talk a bit more, Al," she said brightly. "Tell me about yourself."

Albus gulped nervously. "Er—you seem to know enough."

"No, I don't know much at all," said Sapienta. "Spill."

Albus didn't say anything. He wanted to be anywhere but here.

"Let's start with the assassin that's after you," prompted Sapienta.

"Wh—wha—_what?_" Albus spluttered. He stood up, furious. "How do you—look—"

"It's not a secret in the Ministry," said Sapienta. "I don't work there, but I do know what's going on. A decent amount of people know that the escaped prisoner is after you. The whole Auror Office knows. They're going to keep an eye on you. And I suppose I will, too."

"Thanks." His tone was sarcastic, but she didn't seem to notice. He sat back down, his cheeks red. "So, what are you, my bodyguard?"

She shrugged. "Perhaps. In any case, you can trust me."

_Not likely, _thought Albus. Trying to get her to let him leave the compartment, he gave her a vague description of his favorite subjects.

As time went on, the rain thickened as the train sped along its iron tracks. The windows were being relentlessly pounded, and the wind howled threateningly past them. As evening fell, the shimmering gray windows darkened until lanterns magically turned on all along the corridors and over the luggage racks. "Look—it's getting dark. I want to see my friends, Professor Sapienta. Can you let me go, please?" asked Albus.

Sapienta shrugged again, apparently thinking there was no need to keep him there any longer. "Go ahead."

Relieved, Albus stood up again. He was sick and tired of the whole trip, and all he wanted to do was shove Chocolate Frogs down his throat while chatting with Rose and Scorpius.

But he didn't get the chance. With an earsplitting screech, the Hogwarts Express jerked to a stop. Distant thuds and bangs signaled that luggage had fallen out of the racks, and Albus himself crashed into the compartment door and fell to the floor, groaning. But Sapienta, alert as ever, was up on her feet in an instant.

"W-Why did we stop?" said Albus, adjusting his glasses and struggling to his feet.

Without warning, the lanterns flickered off, and they were plunged into darkness.

"W-Who did that?" said Albus, looking around desperately. "Is the rest of the train dark, too? What's going on? Professor!"

"Be quiet." Sapienta's face, or the little that he could see of it, had gone completely white. She approached the very black window and peered out of it, her olive-green eyes widening with fear.

"Is it too dark to see?" Albus tentatively neared her and tried to look out into the darkness. It was hard to see through the pouring rain, and a heavy mist seemed to have settled around the immobile Hogwarts Express. But, through the vicious weather, he could barely see figures rising out of the ground... "W-What's out there? Are those people—are they boarding the train?"

"Get away from here!" hissed Sapienta, pushing Albus away from the window. "Just as I predicted. This is why I called you to my compartment. I knew... I knew this would happen. _He_'s after you, Potter."

Albus wasn't sure who Sapienta meant by 'he,' but he still had a pretty good idea. He leapt towards the compartment door, but Sapienta's harsh voice jerked his attention away from escaping. "Stay here!" she ordered. "They're after you! Don't lead them all over the train!"

"_They_? As in multiple?" Albus squeaked.

Sapienta was backing away from the window. "Stay behind me, Potter. Whatever you do, don't go near the window. Get your wand out!"

Albus had automatically armed himself beforehand. Now, he held his wand up and aimed it at the window. Sapienta's eyes were narrowed, and she wasn't looking away from the window. Albus trained his eyes on it as well, every muscle in his body tensed. He prepared himself to leap into battle, to fight tooth and nail and wand. Already, he was running possible spells through his mind. He had no idea what was coming, but the harsh, heavy breathing of Professor Sapienta gave him a clue about the approaching danger.

And then, unexpectedly, shockingly, completely without warning—the window shattered.

"_PROTEGO_!" shouted Sapienta, causing a Shield Charm nearly the size of the whole compartment to expand around them. The shards of glass flew past them, and they were unharmed.

But not for long. Albus watched, horrified, as mud began to ooze in from outside the window. The very floor seemed to bubbling, and the carpet was wrenched apart with a terrible ripping noise_. _From the ruined floor came more mud, seeping through their shoes and wrapping around their legs. Albus struggled fruitlessly, watching tendrils of mud travel up his body like he was being painted brown at top speed. Sapienta was in a similar predicament, and they were both slowly being choked to death. Albus tried in vain to free his hand so he could point his wand, but the mud was too strong. Its grip was vice-like, unrelenting. Then, from the mud itself, figures began to take form. At first, they seemed like shapeless lumps. But as he watched, they became more defined, almost like sculptures. They were people—_soldiers_—made out of mud. They wore muddy robes and had droopy, wet wands protruding from their sleeves, but their eyes shone with death and despair. They were objects, crude—yet terrifying—imitations of life.

What _were_ they?

"_Terraxes._ Earth Soldiers," said Sapienta, as if she had read his mind.

"Do...something...," he gasped, kicking hopelessly.

"I-I can't—I can't—they can't be killed by any means I know—they're impossible to beat—they reform when you blast them—too powerful—" Sapienta moaned, unable to move an inch.

Albus took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. The familiar dark sensation shot through the tips of his toes to the top of his head. A feeling of invincibility took over him, and he began to glow bright green, illuminating the compartment. He closed his eyes and let the sensation take over his actions. The glow around him pulsed strangely and forced him to walk forward. He stuck his hand out, and a burning sensation started from his heart, growing outward. He opened his eyes stared at his own hand, which was on fire. The bright green flames crackled in front of him, coming from within his palm. _First lightning, and now fire? _The bright green flames on his palm grew in height and width as he watched. They spread over his hand, up his arm, and through his whole body. He blazed through the compartment, an emerald-green firestorm that turned any Terraxes that he touched into ashes. He felt alive and in power, and he loved the dark feeling raging through his veins as he destroyed the monstrous earth creatures.

Without warning, the power died away, and Albus swayed on the spot, no longer glowing bright green. His eyes closed, and he fell to the ruined carpet, thinking of how he had burned the Terraxes into the ground even when they were supposed to be unbeatable. Fatigue settled over him like a smothering blanket, and he went completely still.

But he heard one thing from Sapienta before he slipped out of consciousness: "_One thousand years... they have risen after one thousand years.._."

* * *

"Try not to use your powers too much. You'll tire yourself out, like you did now."

Albus blearily blinked open his eyes and was greeted by blinding whiteness. He quickly closed his eyes again. His head was pounding, and he felt completely drained. He could barely remember what had happened. The earthy beings—Terraxes, had they been?—had attacked him on the train, he had turned into a bright green firestorm, and had immediately collapsed afterwards. Where was he now, then? Summoning all his remaining energy, he opened his eyes. A blurry figure hovered above him, but focusing on it was too much work. He stared blankly ahead, not quite sure what he was looking at.

"Potter! Snap out of it!"

Albus tried to straighten up, but as soon as he did, a terrible dizziness overwhelmed him, and he flopped back down. Where had all his energy gone? Had his powers used it all up? Was this why he was so exhausted?

"Potter! Your glasses!" A hazy pair of spectacles came into view. Albus weakly reached up for them, but found that his arm was shaking too much to hold anything.

"Madam Pomfrey! Poppy! Get him that Strengthening Draft, or he won't be able to move!"

Albus finally recognized the voice. It belonged to Athena Sapienta. Why was she here? Where was he? He was lying in a comfortable bed, and smooth sheets were pulled up to his neck. A soft pillow resided underneath his head. There weren't any beds on the Hogwarts Express. Was it possible that he was at Hogwarts already? But how?

At that moment, someone propped his pillow up and pushed him against it. His head immediately started to spin, and he felt close to fainting. Then, that same someone brought a glass cup to his lips and tilted it, forcing a strangely bittersweet liquid into his mouth. He swallowed, and the results were prompt. At once, his vision cleared, (though it was still blurry due to the lack of glasses) and he felt far stronger. His headache slowly drained away, and he was able to shove his glasses on.

Sapienta's flawless face came into focus. "Potter! Good, you've come around. I was worried for a second."

"W-What h-happened?" said Albus shakily, looking at his surroundings. He was, as he had suspected, in the Hospital Wing.

Sapienta nodded at Madam Pomfrey, who was watching over him and clicking her tongue (Albus was a regular visitor due to the fact that he seemed to attract bad luck and accidents, so she had gotten quite close to him). "Poppy, if you'd please leave us. I'd like to speak to Potter privately." Madam Pomfrey, still clucking like a mother hen, bustled off. Sapienta turned back to Albus, her expression severe.

"Well, we were attacked, if you remember. After you burned all the Terraxes down, the lights turned on, and the train started up again. No one else was attacked. I did not tell anyone about the attack. Everyone believes the delay was a mistake of the driver. I simply said that you were frightened by the abrupt stopping of the train and fainted."

Albus reddened with embarrassment. "HEY! I'd never do that! I'm not a complete wimp—"

"Shut up. The lie was necessary. Do you know what would happen if someone found about what you did there? Power like that is unheard of! You'd be labeled as a freak and sent off to the Department of Mysteries and treated as a test subject," snapped Sapienta.

Albus fell quiet. He was a bit touched that Sapienta cared enough about him to worry about how he'd be considered an animal if his powers became common knowledge. Everybody at Hogwarts knew that he displayed strange bursts of impossibly powerful magic, but he supposed that he had crossed a line today. "Okay," he mumbled. A moment later, he asked, his voice trembling slightly, "W-What happened there?"

"Dangerous creatures called Terraxes attacked you," said Sapienta matter-of-factly. "They were plentiful one thousand years ago—"

There was an intake of breath from Albus. One thousand years ago? Wasn't one thousand years ago when Cryptan, also known as the Paradox or the embodiment of evil, had been in power? Was that number simply a coincidence? _No._ Albus didn't believe in coincidences after everything he had been through.

"—but then dropped off the face of the earth. Barely anyone knows about them anymore, because all documents that recorded their existence were destroyed. I myself found out because I visited the ancient archives in the Ministry of Magic—ah, I'm getting off topic. Anyways, I know very little about them—"

The gears in Albus's brain were turning at full speed. He remembered from Cryptan's words last year that his followers had erased all mention of him in history, so the wizarding world would be unprepared when he rose to power again. If the Terraxes had been omitted from the history books, then they must have had something to do with the Paradox...

"—and it was horrifying to see them when I had been sure that they were no longer alive. Basically, they cannot be killed, because they are not alive. Blasting them apart would only hinder them, and they are capable of reforming in only seconds. You managed to burn them into ashes, which is unheard of. No one before has managed to do it. _Theoretically_, it would be possible, but only to one whose powers were a level_ above_ even the most powerful wizard's.

"One would assume that the Terraxes had been slumbering underneath the ground for these thousand years, but, if so, they have risen. Why they attacked you, I'm not sure. It could be coincidence. It probably isn't."

Albus didn't think it was a coincidence, either. Cryptan had something to do with the Terraxes. He was _sure_ of it. It had to be! Why else would dangerous, unbeatable monsters from one thousand years ago be sent after Albus, the only one who had managed to defeat the most powerful being on the planet? (Admittedly, he had cheated.)

"Now, I'll do my best to answer the questions you're surely burning to ask. Why they've come? I'm not sure. If they'll come again? I hope not. Any others?"

Albus was still deep in thought, so he shook his head.

"Very well," said Sapienta. "The Feast is half-over. You were unconscious for several hours. I had to take you to the Hospital Wing. If you're strong enough to get up, go to the Feast." After that, she stood up and left, leaving him to his troubling thoughts.

Still thinking about the events of the last two years, he checked out of the Hospital Wing and walked towards the Great Hall. At the doors, he paused, wishing that he had his Invisibility Cloak on him. He didn't want to waltz into the hall so obviously. Suddenly, he felt sick. Had Sapienta passed the story of him fainting because the lights had turned off on the train around the school? Preparing himself for an onslaught of insults, he inched into the Great Hall. As one, everyone turned to stare at him. He felt as if he were standing in an extremely bright spotlight, one that was burning a whole into the top of his head. His face very red, he attempted to scurry to the Slytherin table.

To his horror, James found this to be the perfect bullying opportunity. He stood up, a sneer on his face. "I can't believe it! I mean, it's common knowledge that you're a wimp, but I _really_ didn't think you'd sink to a new low this quickly!"

Albus cringed and tried to ignore his brother's insults.

"You _fainted_ on the train! What a pansy!" James snorted. Everyone else followed his lead, taking pleasure in causing Albus pain.

"Alpus Snivellus fainted like a girl!"

"I bet he had to be carried into the school princess-style!"

"What a _loser_!"

Albus clenched his fist and continued to the Slytherin table, not looking at anyone. He tried to block out the whispering of his Housemates and did not speak to a snickering Scorpius, who was not improving his mood in the slightest. Albus's hand was shaking as he began to eat his mashed potatoes. Every insult thrown at him seemed to pierce into him like shards of glass. It was getting harder and harder to block out the pain.

Finally, the food disappeared from the plate, signaling the end of the Feast. Albus finally looked up and summoned enough strength to look at the Gryffindor table. Rose was wracked with worry and kept giving him anxious glances, while Elina was watching him sympathetically. James was miming Albus fainting to great applause. But Albus's eyes wandered over to Lily and Hugo, who had both joined the Gryffindor table. That was it, then. He was the lone Slytherin, the only one in his family to ever be Sorted outside of Gryffindor.

He really was an outcast.

Triton stood up for his usual speech, clearing his throat as he did so. "All right, let's start a new year." He did not sound enthusiastic. "The Dueling Program will continue, but there will be no more Dueling matches. Instead, students will be sorted into various groups by achievement level. A different professor will be assigned to each group, and you will be learning new spells from him or her.

"Next, you all know that our current Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, is retiring next year. The elections will be coming up as well. One of the candidates, Drake Edgeworth, will be coming to Hogwarts as a representative of the Ministry. He and other representatives from the Ministry will be coming to oversee the dueling groups. You will all be on your best behavior, I expect. Please treat them with the utmost respect."

_I'm not likely to be treating Edgeworth with respect_, thought Albus. He hated that man with a burning passion, and Edgeworth felt the same way toward Albus. Albus desperately hoped that Edgeworth would not win the elections, though it was sure to be an easy win—Edgeworth was highly popular.

And now, Triton looked more enthusiastic. "The Ministry and I have put our heads together in order to come up with a friendly little _competition_ for our students."

The students began to whisper excitedly. _That competition!_ Albus straightened his seat, his interest piqued. He could remember his parents talking about this during the summer.

"There will be seven teams of sixty students," continued Triton. "And there will be three _events_ in which the teams will compete against each other. The teams will have all Houses mixed in them. This is to encourage House unity! The name is the Colorful Competition, also to encourage all House colors."

Albus snorted slightly. No matter what the adults did, they couldn't make the Gryffindors and Slytherins get along.

"The Colorful Competition will start after your Dueling Groups are assigned. You will train for the competition in your Dueling Groups, obviously. Good luck to all of you, then! We're very excited about this. Rules and more information will be given at the start of the competition."

There was some more interested whispering, and Albus felt eager for the competition as well. If he was the one who brought his team glory, maybe Slytherin would be more respected... maybe _he'd_ be more respected...

"The rules are the same as always, except for one thing. The Forbidden Forest—due to a few, uh, _issues_ last year—was mainly destroyed. However, it is still recommended that you don't explore the ruins, because they may come out for revenge and trap you. And there's one more announcement: We have a new Potions teacher. Please make Professor Athena Sapienta feel welcome. Finally, you are dismissed. First years, look to your prefects for instructions."

Albus made for the exit of the Great Hall, wanting to get out as soon as humanely possible, but was blocked by Sapienta. How had she gotten there so quickly? "Potter!" she said. "You are wanted in the Headmaster's Office. Please make your way there as quickly as possible."

Sighing, Albus walked to the gargoyle guarding the spiral staircases up to the office. He doubted that Triton had come here yet, considering that the Feast had just ended. As he had predicted, Headmaster Triton swept towards him. "Mr. Potter! Going into my office won't be necessary."

Albus watched another man approach from behind Triton. The man was tall, with dark hair and a small scar on his nose. "This here is Auror Ewan Tutterskope," said Triton, unnecessarily indicating the man. "On Hogsmeade weekends, he will accompany you to keep you safe. Your father has informed us of your—er—troublesome situation. I'm sure you and Mr. Tutterskope will be able to get acquainted on your Hogsmeade weekends."

Albus hesitated. He didn't want to be followed around all the time by an Auror when he left the school, but he knew that his father had his best interests at heart. "All right. Should I be getting to my dormitory now?"

Triton dismissed him with a wave while Tutterskope nodded coldly at him, scanning him with narrowed brown eyes. Albus assumed that this was one of the Aurors who despised Slytherins and would naturally be suspicious of Albus, son of the great Harry Potter or not.

Sighing, he descended to the Slytherin dungeons. Not speaking to either Scorpius or Oswald and too tired with the day's events to bother unpacking, he fell into his bed after changing and closed his eyes. Automatically, he visualized the Terraxes that had attacked him today. Somehow, he had managed to burn them into ashes, despite the fact that they were supposed to be unbeatable. Questions spun in his head, dizzying him. What were these powers of his? What else did Sapienta know about the Terraxes? Where had they come from? What exactly were they? Why did they come to his compartment? What did they want with him?

Were they going to come for him again?

* * *

Unbeknownst to the teenage boy, he was being discussed at length by a group of people. Their location was unknown, their surroundings shrouded in secrecy. A woman, both beautiful and terrifying, seemed to be talking at that moment. "Rayan has given him the first few tests. The results are positive. Albus Severus Potter displays all of the symptoms and reactions of a Paradox. It is almost confirmed; there is a second. There is a second one, the one we must kill. If he truly is the Final Paradox, his powers will grow stronger. But he will be vulnerable, more vulnerable than he has ever been before. All we need to do is to dissect him, to know what will hurt him most. In the end, all it will take to stop him will be one hit, one hit that will cause him to break down. However, there are a still a few more tests that he must be put through. Tests that we can use to measure his strengths and weaknesses. Is he the same as the First Paradox, or very different? Both of them are Dark creatures, terrible beings, inhumane. Both were created with the sole purpose to destroy, to kill, to cause the world to come crashing down. They cannot be too different. Both will be merciless, ruthless, sadistic. Natural killing machines.

"But how strong exactly will Albus Severus Potter be? Have we underestimated him? Overestimated him? It is common knowledge that he is an outcast, the lone Slytherin within a family of Gryffindors. The one that was abandoned. The one everyone calls a freak. This will make him angry, make him want revenge. He is a boy of many talents. Our sources at the school tell us he is a child prodigy of such power that Hogwarts has never seen before. He has foiled our plans twice, and shows great cunning and intelligence. In the simplest sense of the word, he is a genius. Do we want someone like that as our enemy? He must die by our hands one day, but we can use him until his last breath. He will be our secret weapon, the ultimate killing machine that we can brainwash and train to our advantage. He'll even be a weapon against himself when the time comes that he must be destroyed. What do I propose we do, then?

"We ask him to join us."

* * *

**Author's Note: There's something I wanted to clear up: Terraxes are my own creation, as are Tenebrums (from the last book). All other magical creatures, however, are JK Rowling's unless otherwise mentioned. The Sapphire Unicorn is "sort of" mine. I _think_ it's an actual legend - but I'm not sure about that because I haven't been able to find information on it. I created my version of the Sapphire Unicorn by myself, and I didn't know that I wasn't the only person who came up with it until after I'd written the second book.**

**Can anyone guess what Albus's "inner animal" (the Patronus/Animagus form of each wizard) is? (ex. Harry's was a stag) We learn what Albus's is in the next chapter. There's a really obvious clue somewhere. It's glaringly obvious. Really - just look for it. Tell me your guess! :)**


	5. The Serpent Within

**-Chapter Five-**

**The Serpent Within**

"You didn't really faint on the train, did you?" asked Scorpius on their way to the Slytherin table for breakfast on Monday.

Albus gritted his teeth. "None of your business."

"Okay, okay! No need to bite my head off!" said Scorpius.

Whispers surrounded Albus as he sat down and pulled a platter of toast towards him. He tried to block out the jeers from the Gryffindor boys, who were practically having a field day, pouncing at the chance to humiliate him. Scorpius glared at them and gave Albus a short nod. "I'll hex them when their backs are turned. You wait."

Albus grinned weakly. Before he could take another bite of his toast, a loud voice made him turn around. "AL!" It was Rose. "I was so worried! Oh my goodness, I can't believe it! You must have been ill! Do you still have a fever? You should really eat more! It's not good for your health—you're frail!"

"Rose—Rose—shut up—_please_—shut up!" hissed Albus, frantic. Elina was approaching the table, and the last thing he wanted was for her to hear Rose fussing over how he was too 'frail'—which he totally was _not_.

Seriously though, how was he _frail_?

"Hi, Al." Elina's eyes were shining with concern. "Are you okay? When I heard, I was so worried!"

Albus's face heated up. "I'm f-fine. It was just a little accident..."

Elina sighed in relief. "Good. Don't give me a scare like that again. And don't pay attention to what everyone else is saying. They don't matter." She smiled and patted his shoulder. "See you later!" She skipped off to the Gryffindor table, her long light brown hair swinging behind her. Nearly every boy under the age of fifteen stared after her, dreamy expressions on their faces.

"Al, there's drool on your chin. Snap out of it!" Rose said. "You'd better tell me and Scorpius everything that's happened!"

Albus swallowed hard. He didn't want Rose and Scorpius to continue thinking that he had fainted on the train. Was he going to tell them about the Terraxes? They deserved to know after everything they had been through together. And they didn't even know that an assassin was after him! If he was indeed being chased, his closest friends could be in danger. It was his duty to tell them.

"I'll tell you later," he muttered at last. "In private."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow, and Rose looked stunned. "You didn't faint on the train, did you?" she said quietly. "There's something else."

Scorpius snorted. "It took you that long to figure it out? Look, I know Al's scrawny, but after all the things he did, I doubt that he fainted because the train stopped and the lights turned off."

"You're right. I didn't," said Albus. "But no one can know that." Sapienta had made him promise not to tell anyone about what had happened, but Rose and Scorpius were not just 'anyone.' They were his best friends, and he was going to tell them no matter what.

"I'd better be getting back to the Gryffindor table," squeaked Rose before Albus could say any more, noticing that the Heads of Houses were making their way towards their House tables to pass out schedules. She darted off.

Sapienta started handing scrolls out, a monotone look on her face. "Third years!" she called at last. Albus moved forward to accept his schedule, which he unrolled the moment he had sat down again.

"Look, we have Care of Magical Creatures and Divination today," Albus read from it.

"Mixed Houses for our electives. That means that there's bound to be Gryffindors," Scorpius said glumly. "Oh yeah, and everything's been switched around. This'll be confusing."

"We have Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid first," said Albus after a moment. The two boys hurriedly finished up their breakfast and met up with Rose at the exit of the Great Hall. To their surprise, she dragged them into an empty chamber off to the side.

"Talk," she ordered, fixing Albus with a stern glare.

Albus gulped, cowering underneath her searching gaze. "Okay..." He began with the note that he had received, and the attack in Diagon Alley.

Rose's and Scorpius's mouths fell open in shock.

"It must be what you did for the last two years!" gasped Scorpius. "You made a bunch of Dark Wizards angry, I bet. Hoffman, Heartley, and Rylon were bound to not be the only ones."

"That's what I thought. I mean, why else would an assassin be after me?" said Albus.

"How did he escape from Azkaban, though? Did the person who hired him release him as well?" said Rose.

"That's what I thought, too," said Albus, running his hand nervously through his hair. Then he told them about what had happened on the train, pausing at the part where he had to tell them about how he had turned into a bright green firestorm.

"Terraxes?" Rose whispered. "Oh my goodness! And Sapienta told you that they can't be destroyed, no matter what! How did you get rid of them?"

Albus didn't reply.

"Hey! Answer the question!" Scorpius snapped. "How did you get rid of them if they couldn't be defeated?"

Albus studied the cracked floor intensely as if it were the most interesting thing on the planet. "G-Guess," he finally said.

Rose and Scorpius exchanged looks of dawning comprehension, quick to catch on. "Your powers? You've used them... that bright green light... that lightning..." Scorpius trailed off.

"You used those powers, didn't you?" said Rose, her eyes shining. "Wow, that's amazing!"

Albus didn't think it was amazing at all. It was more terrifying and worrying—_these_ were proper adjectives for his powers. He continued on in his explanation, disregarding Rose's and Scorpius's awed looks. "Except this time, it was fire instead of lightning. I-I really don't know..." He rubbed his forehead, which was starting to ache now.

Rose and Scorpius were still throwing questions at him.

"Can you control your powers?"

"Er... not really."

"Have you only done fire and lightning?"

"Kind of. Er—I've done shockwaves, blasts of light, and shields, too. Sometimes the symbols on my wand glow bright green."

"BRILLIANT!" (That was more of a squeal from Rose than a question.)

Albus wondered whether to tell them about what he suspected about Cryptan having to do with the Terraxes. He hadn't told Rose or Scorpius the truth about the battle that had taken place in the Forbidden Forest last year. They had been fed the same story, the one that Albus had somehow gotten lucky with the Scepter of Slytherin without using any of his powers (which were frighteningly similar to Cryptan's) and had permanently defeated a simple enemy (which wasn't true at all). Albus could have told them the true story, could have told them about the dreams—or rather, visions—that he'd had of Cryptan as a boy. He could have told them every single thing that Cryptan had revealed before their battle, but he couldn't make himself tell them. Cryptan had said that Albus was similar to him—too similar. Cryptan was a monster.

Didn't that make _Albus_ a monster, too?

"Don't we have to get to class?" he said, pushing away the guilt. Before he turned to leave, he tentatively said, "Look...aren't you afraid?"

Rose and Scorpius stared at him. "What?" they said together.

"Aren't you scared that an assassin's after me? I mean, you two hang out around me. I'm putting you in danger. And my powers are freakish. Aren't you afraid that I might accidentally hurt you, or cause someone else to hurt you?"

"Are you stupid or something?" said Scorpius scathingly. "Why would we ditch you for that?"

Albus stared at Scorpius, not sure that he had heard properly. There was _every_ reason to ditch him—he was practically the poster boy for all freaks and outcasts! "I-I just thought—if you d-didn't want to be around me anymore, I-I'd understand—"

Rose shook her head. "We'd never leave you alone, especially if you were in danger. Don't be dumb."

Albus turned around to leave, his back to them. But his lips were curling into a small smile.

"So, are you two talking again?" he asked as they walked out of the castle, towards Hagrid's hut.

Rose glared at Scorpius. "Yeah. Care to explain why you ran out of me at WWW, _Scorpy_?"

Scorpius looked at the ground sheepishly. "I had to get back to my parents. I couldn't stay to chat. And can you not call me 'Scorpy'? It's giving me a headache."

Rose sighed deeply. "That was very rude of you."

"Sorry!" Scorpius barked. "Stop harping on about it..."

They were the first ones to arrive for the Care of Magical Creatures lesson. "Al! Scorpius! Rosie!" Hagrid bellowed as he lumbered out of his hut. "Yer early!"

"Yeah," Scorpius said. "So, what've you got planned for today? Nothing dangerous, I expect." His lip curled.

Hagrid didn't seem to notice. "We're lookin' at Griffins today! They're a cousin of the Hippogriff!"

He gestured to the Forbidden Forest, which was in ruins, though it was growing back at an unnatural speed. Albus guiltily remembered that he had helped destroy it the previous term. Then he took a closer look and saw that there was a group of strange birds—if one could call them that—that were milling around in a paddock. They had the front legs, wings, and head of an eagle, but the body, hind legs, and tail of a lion—Griffins. Albus, Scorpius, and Rose stared at them for a few seconds, mouths agape. Albus wondered why he hadn't noticed the creatures before.

"They're Griffins. Beau'iful, ain't they?" asked Hagrid, teary-eyed.

"Terrifying, too," Scorpius muttered.

A few seconds later, they heard the telltale laughter of other students trekking down to the hut. Albus turned around to see Elina and the rest of the popular Gryffindors third years. She let out a squeal and ran toward the Griffins. Albus smiled slightly, knowing that she loved all kinds of magical creatures.

"Ooh! Hagrid, they're so pretty!" Elina gasped, jumping into the paddock and stroking the nearest Griffin. It seemed to like her immediately, which was unusual. Then again, Elina was the Eternal Maiden, the guardian of wildlife. All creatures seemed to trust her.

"Everyone here?" Hagrid asked. "All righ' then, gather 'round, gather 'round." He stomped into the forest and coaxed the Griffins out of their paddock. The class gasped with awe as they regarded the elegant creatures. "Ter those of yeh who didn't hear, these are Griffins," Hagrid began. "Who can tell me—?"

Rose stuck her hand up in the air snobbishly. Hagrid grinned and called on her. "Jus' like yer mum, Rosie."

"Thanks, Hagrid," said Rose, giving Albus and Scorpius—who both knew the answer anyways—a smug, self-satisfied look. "Griffins are half eagle and half lion. They are fierce, but they can be befriended. They can be bred with horses to create Hippogriffs. Griffins are are primarily used to guard treasures for wizards who own them as pets. This is very useful because they are loyal, but also very suspicious. This helps prevent theft. To defend itself, the Griffin can use its claws and beak, and can fly at speeds up to—"

Hagrid waved a hand to make her stop talking. "Tha's righ'. Grea' job! Ten points ter Gryffindor. Now, yer gonna come up and try ter bond with 'em. See, Elina's done it." (Elina was still petting the feathers of the one at the front.) "Now, wha' Elina did was pretty odd, because Griffins are paranoid. If they sense somethin' abou' yeh that they don't trust, they'll attack yeh. So, yeh always wait fer the Griffin to approach yeh, and then run if it decides it doesn't like yeh," Hagrid roared happily, making motions with his gigantic hands as he talked. "So, right—who wants ter go firs'?"

Everyone backed away in response except for Elina, whose hand was still resting on the Griffin's head. Albus gulped. If Elina was the only one remaining, she would certainly have to face it alone. He didn't want her to get hurt. He had become much more protective of her after last year's incident. "I'll go," he said, stepping forward. Rose and Scorpius stared at him, their mouths falling open in shock. Albus ignored the jeers and insults from the class and slowly made his way towards Hagrid and the Griffin. Elina gave him a supportive smile and scuttled back to the crowd of students.

"Now, come close an' watch," grunted Hagrid. "Its name's Godric. Wait fer it..."

Albus stepped closer and stood still, his heart beating frantically. Godric the Griffin was really quite stunning up close; its eyes were yellow and proud, and its feathers were glossy. Its golden fur was smooth and shiny, as if it had recently been washed. It regarded him coldly, not tearing its yellowish eyes away from his emerald ones.

"I think it trusts yeh," Hagrid said after a long pause. "Strange, though. Usually, it takes longer than tha'. Maybe it trusts yeh 'cus it senses an equal in yeh. Only powerful wizards get tha' type of response so quickly. Anyways, I reckon it'll let you touch it!"

"Er—er—I—" Albus stuttered hopelessly, thinking that a better prize would have been to back away. Before he could dart off, Hagrid pushed him forward, and Albus stumbled to a stop right in front of Godric. He raised a shaking hand and quickly patted the feathers on the top of its head. Godric closed its eyes lazily, as though it was enjoying it. The class started booing and shouting, as if they wished that Albus had gotten skewered by the Griffin's beak instead. He sighed, used to the insults. Then he remembered that Elina was watching him. She certainly wouldn't like him any better if he remained the Loser of Hogwarts. But would she be impressed if he did something a bit more daring?

"I want to ride him," he declared, glaring determinedly at Hagrid.

Hagrid looked ecstatic. "Yeah, tha's the spirit, Al! Yeh climb up jus' behind the wing," he grunted, "an' mind yeh don' pull his feathers..."

Albus put his foot on top of Godric's wing and pulled himself onto its back. Godric stood up, and Albus let out a small yelp of surprise. Barely managing to stay on, he seized Godric around the neck.

"Go on, then!" roared Hagrid, slapping the Griffin's hindquarters.

Without warning, the fifteen-foot wings on either side of Albus flapped open. Godric began running across the Hogwarts grounds, its talons and paws working together to reach unbelievable speeds, the wings helping to balance it. Albus relished in the feeling of the air whipping past him, even though he felt as if he were going to fall off any moment. Before Albus knew it, Godric had taken off. Albus felt his stomach jump into the air as Godric's ill-assorted feet pushed off the ground. The wings beat uncomfortably beside him, but Albus instead focused on the view. The Black Lake looked stunning from here, and the castle seemed to shimmer in the hot air. Albus's untidy hair became more windswept as Godric descended towards the lake. For one horrible second, Albus thought that it was going to dive in, but Godric only skimmed the surface. Entranced, Albus watched the glossy surface of the water as he flew over it. He reached down and stuck the tips of his fingers into the water, creating a cold spray that fanned out behind him. Then, quite suddenly, they were back over the ground.

Slowly, Godric touched down and continued running toward Hagrid's hut, where the rest of the students were assembled, mouths agape. Albus resisted the urge to smirk as he dropped down from the Griffin's back.

"That was amazing!" Elina gasped, looking at Albus in awe.

Albus turned very red and looked at his shoes.

"Good work, Al!" Hagrid shouted. "Okay, who else wants a go?"

Derlwin snorted derisively, sharing an incredulous look with the rest of his equally incredulous friends. "I bet it wasn't that hard. I'll go next." The rest of the class said something similar, all of them scoffing at Albus's success. The lesson passed without any other issues, but Albus stood off to the side. He wondered if Elina had been impressed. She had looked like she was, right? He took a glance at her and met her blue-violet eyes. He blushed again.

"That was really great," Elina said sincerely, walking towards him. "You'll have to take me for a ride someday."

Albus, if possible, went even redder. "S-Sure!" he said, a bit too quickly.

* * *

Their next class was Divination, and so Albus and Scorpius split up from Rose after Care of Magical Creatures. "Your funeral! Divination is deadly dull!" she trilled, bouncing over to the Arithmancy classroom. Albus and Scorpius wandered around the school, looking for the North Tower. Finally, they reached a narrow spiral staircase and climbed it, huffing and puffing loudly. The tightly spiraling steps made Albus dizzier and dizzier, and he was relieved to reach the tiny landing at the top. Scorpius pointed at the ceiling, where there was a circular trapdoor with a rusty plaque on it.

"Sibyll Trelawney, Divination professor," Albus read off the plaque. "You should hear my Aunt Hermione talk about her. Weirdly enough, Dad doesn't mind Trelawney so much. He doesn't think she's a fraud. Wonder why..."

The trapdoor suddenly dropped open, and a silvery ladder descended at the two boys' feet. The whispering from the classroom above stopped, and Albus cautiously climbed up the ladder. He squeezed out of the trapdoor and into the room.

Professor Trelawney's classroom didn't look like a classroom at all. It was instead a mix of a dusty attic, a tea shop, and a meeting room for very old women that liked to knit in their spare time. More than twenty tiny, round tables were crammed inside, barely leaving any room to walk. The little remaining space was filled with chintz armchairs and fat poofs with stuffing coming out. Everything was lit with a dull, crimson light, since the lamps were draped with dark red scarves. A sickly perfume hung in the room, making Albus choke. The shelves around them were filled with disintegrating feathers, candle stubs, scattered playing cards, numerable silvery crystal balls, and what Albus thought was a rather unnecessary array of blue and pink teacups.

"I can't breathe," Scorpius said, gasping overdramatically.

"Let's sit down and wait for the professor," Albus suggested, walking far away from the rest of the students, who were glaring at him with undisguised venom. Albus spotted Oswald in a corner of the room.

"I'm scared," Oswald mumbled to Albus and Scorpius as they sat down next to him.

"The room is more weird than scary, honestly," said Albus.

"I don't like darkness," Oswald admitted. "And this room is dark."

"We've realized," Scorpius snapped.

To Albus, he whispered, "Every word Oswald says sounds stupider than his last word."

Albus privately agreed, but he wasn't going to reply with Oswald sitting right next to him. Instead, he contented himself with daydreaming about a certain brunette, blue-violet-eyed Gryffindor girl. But then, a mysterious voice suddenly came out of the dimness, jerking Albus out of his thoughts. The voice was misty and all-knowing, but it sounded quite annoying to him. "Welcome," it said. "How nice it is to see you in the physical world at last."

At first, Albus thought that a large, glittery dragonfly had walked into the room, but soon realized that the figure was not an insect but a person. Trelawney moved into the dark red light, and Albus saw that she was as thin as a stick with large, shiny glasses that magnified her eyes. Her hair was wispy and gray, and she was covered in a flimsy, gaudy shawl. Countless necklaces and beads hung around her frail neck, and her bony arms and fingers were choked by bangles and rings. "Welcome, my children... yes... sit down...," she said, sitting herself in a winged armchair in front of the fire so that her figure was illuminated. "I am Professor Trelawney, and this may be the first time you have seen me, because I usually do not leave my classroom; the noise and activity outside often clouds my Inner Eye."

Scorpius was choking with mirth at this point. "Is she serious?" he said out of the corner of his mouth.

Trelawney did not notice him. She delicately arranged her shawl and said, in a hushed voice, "I consider Divination to be the most difficult of all magical arts. I must warn you that if you do not have the Sight, this subject will be near impossible for you. Many witches and wizards are unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future. Seeing is a Gift given to very few, I being one of them."

She turned suddenly to Oswald, who squeaked and sunk into his seat. "You, boy," she began. "Are you sure that your mother is well? Sure that she's not getting beat up by your stepfather?"

Oswald looked murderous, his usually trembling chin tightening and determination taking over his features. "If he does anything—"

"Well, he will, my dear," promised Trelawney, a grave expression on her face. To the class at large, she said, "We will be covering the very basic methods of Divination this year. For the first term, we will be reading tea leaves. Next term, we shall continue to palmistry." She turned to Eric Derlwin randomly and glared at him. "By the way, my dear boy, beware of a red-haired woman."

Scorpius looked gleeful for some reason.

Trelawney went on as if nothing had happened. "Then, if we have finished with fire omens, we will progress to the crystal ball."

She suddenly paused, as if there were a dirty taste in her mouth. "I find now that it is the high time to mention that I am not the only Divination teacher. A _centaur_"—she spat the word out in disgust—"teaches all even years: fourth year and sixth year. I, however, teach third year, fifth year, and seventh year. We used to share third year, but I could not stand any more of it, so now, it is mine alone. Thank goodness..." After that announcement, the nasty tone in her voice disappeared and was once more replaced with the airy, light one.

"Unfortunately, classes next term will be disrupted by a bad bout of flu in spring. You, you, and you," she said, pointing to a Gryffindor named Kimberly Osterlyn, Oswald, and a Hufflepuff named Janet Abel, "will lose your voices."

"Maybe it would be good if _she_ lost her voice," said Scorpius. "I'm bored out of my mind already. As much as I hate to admit it, we should've listened to Rose."

"And right after the exams, two people at Hogwarts will leave the school... forever."

"Well, _obviously_, it's more than that," said Scorpius. "Since, you know, seventh years are graduating and everything—"

"I would appreciate it, my dear, if you'd stop interrupting," snapped Trelawney, her airy manner disappearing for a split second. Then she reverted back to her mysterious aura. "My dear," she said to Albus, who was nearest to an enormous silver teapot, "pass me that teapot, please..."

Albus mutely took the teapot and handed it over to her. She met his eyes and stepped backwards dramatically. "Oh... a terrible future... oh dear... oh my..."

"Are you going to say something to him or not?" said Scorpius, yawning.

Trelawney gave him a nasty look, then turned to Albus with a horrified expression on her face. "A death, a death by your own hands..."

_I'm going to become a murderer? _Albus thought, too stunned to reply.

"Now, I want you all to get into pairs. Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it. Then sit down and drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, and then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the pattern using pages five and six of your textbook."

When Albus and Scorpius had finally had their teacups filled with blistering hot tea, they went back to their table and tried to drink it without scalding their throats. They swilled the dregs around, then drained the cups and swapped with each other.

"All right..." Albus sighed as he turned to the said pages in his textbook. "I see—er—a spider... so you'll get stuck in something sticky. Or maybe it's a sun—which means happiness. Does that mean that you'll be happy that you're sticky? Maybe sticky with chocolate? I'd be happy if that happened."

"Your Inner Eye must be as bad as your real eyes," snickered Scorpius.

Albus glared at him and subconsciously adjusted his glasses before returning to analyzing the cup. Once he was done coming up with wild theories, it was Scorpius's turn. Resigned to the worst, Scorpius groaned and glanced at his own book. He squinted and looked into Albus's cup. "What's that? An animal? A pig—no, a cat—no—it's definitely a sheep. So that means that you'll have trouble sleeping tonight, because every time you close your eyes you'll see a giant marshmallow in front of you, and it'll be jumping over the moon—"

Professor Trelawney glanced at Albus as he let out a snort.

"Let me see that," she said reprovingly to Scorpius, swooping over and snatching Albus's cup. Everyone turned their attention to her to watch, all of them sneering and giving Albus dirty looks. Trelawney was staring deeply at the teacup and rotating it counterclockwise in order to look at it from all possible angles. She squinted at Albus's teacup and began, "Three moons... oh dear... a _fatal _love triangle..."

"Oooh!" several girls squealed.

"The falcon...my dear, you have a deadly enemy."

Many people exchanged shocked, confused looks.

"Dear, dear, this is not a happy cup. Oh, _my_! A dagger...an unexpected betrayal. My dear boy, you shall be stabbed in the back by someone you trust..."

Albus felt a rock settle into his stomach.

"No, no, _no_! A scythe! You will be a bringer of destruction and death!"

Scorpius yawned loudly, but was replied by only dirty looks.

"A broken star...a great, but terribly _tragic_ destiny..."

Albus felt several more rocks joining the first in his stomach.

"How many angles are you going to make up?" Scorpius snapped while Albus examined his own tightly clenched fists. "Surely, you can only turn the cup so many times!"

Scorpius, as expected, was ignored. Everyone was watching Professor Trelawney, transfixed. She gave the cup a final turn, gasped, then screamed. She closed her eyes and sank into a vacant armchair, clutching at her heart and sobbing. "My poor, dear boy... no... I cannot say... your fate is too cruel... don't ask me, please..."

"What is it?" everyone demanded, crowding around Albus's and Scorpius's table to look at the cup in question.

Trelawney, despite her protests a second earlier, seemed perfectly happy to tell them all what she had seen. Her eyes opened dramatically, and she gave Albus a look of the utmost anguish. "You have... the _Grim."_

Albus stiffened in his seat. Nearly every student in the room gasped in horror and regarded him with sympathy instead of the usual loathing.

"The Grim is an omen—the very worst omen—of _death_!" Trelawney continued, wiping her brow.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Please, that's a _sheep_, not a Grim," he sneered.

Trelawney surveyed Scorpius with mounting dislike. "You have no supernatural aura around you, my dear. I do not See your talent, no, not at all... and I think we'll leave the lesson here. Yes, pack up everybody..."

Scorpius looked affronted and—after a very evil smirk—casually threw Albus' cup into the ground, where it shattered. He made sure to carefully knock down as many tables as he could on his way out of the room and down the trapdoor.

"She's an idiot," Scorpius said scathingly, looking up into the classroom.

Albus sighed and muttered, "I hope you're right."

* * *

The next day, the school was overridden with gossip about Athena Sapienta, the Potions Mistress. "She's an amazing teacher," said Wyatt Hemley at the breakfast table. "I had her yesterday."

Albus glanced at his schedule interestedly to see that they had Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions today. "I've got her this afternoon. I can't wait to see what she's all about."

After breakfast, Albus, Scorpius, and Oswald apprehensively trekked to the DADA classroom. Luke Irving, the DADA professor, was highly prejudiced and despised the Slytherins with a passion, and would always do everything he possibly could to make the lesson miserable for them. He favored the Gryffindors greatly, awarded them points for no reason, and gave them little homework. In contrast, he took points off Slytherin for matters such as 'cackling' or 'looking sneaky,' and dumped horrifying amounts of homework on them. Even so, Irving had helped Albus out a few times, though the hints had been so small that Albus had almost missed them...

"You're late, snakes!" barked Irving as the three Slytherins came in. "Ten points from Slytherin each. Snivelly, you come up to me!"

Albus gave Scorpius and Rose a confused look, wondering why Irving would want him. Obediently, he dragged himself to the front of the classroom.

"We're going to be focusing on dark creatures this year," Irving began, ignoring Albus for the time being. He gestured instead to a cage with a green blanket covering it. A suspicious rattling noise came from within it, and Albus stepped back a few paces. "Oh no you don't," said Irving, grinning nastily. "I want Snivellus to put on a little demonstration. Let's see how he can fight dark creatures... it's just a test... we won't let anything hurt him, _will we?" _The Gryffindors snickered and made faces at Albus. Rose, Scorpius, and Elina looked alarmed, though, and they kept giving him worried looks.

Albus didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of Elina, nor did he want to prove to the Gryffindors that he was as much as a loser as they made him out to be. But of course, Irving's goal was to humiliate him. He gritted his teeth and held his wand out in front of determinedly.

"Very well," said Irving. He whipped the blanket off the cage and pointed his wand at it, breaking the lock. In a split second, the creature inside had pushed itself out. Albus gulped. It was a small dwarf-like creature that was completely bald. Instead of hair, the creature had red skin stretching from its eyes to the back of its neck, giving the impression that it was wearing a red hat. "Do you know what it is?" Irving asked maliciously. The rest of the class had backed away. Albus noticed that Elina, Irving's daughter, was staring at her father angrily.

"A-A Red Cap," Albus answered shakily, trying, and failing, to appear unfazed. He turned his attention back to the creature. It leapt at him, its long, sharp nails outstretched, its red eyes gleaming in the dim light of the classroom. He quickly dodged out of the way and silently casted a Stinging Hex. The Red Cap stumbled backward, screeching. He ignored it and quickly put up protective enchantments, not even opening his mouth. Then, almost smirking, he sent a well-aimed nonverbal Stunner at the Red Cap, which keeled over and toppled to the ground immediately.

Irving and most of the class looked extremely disappointed that Albus had not gotten maimed. "Get back to your seat, Snakeface!" snarled Irving, pushing Albus towards Rose and Scorpius.

"Blimey, that was really good!" Rose said jealously. "Why can't I do nonverbal spells? How do you manage them, anyways? Third years aren't supposed to be able to! It's not fair how you can!"

"I'll teach you if you want," Albus offered. His cheeks turned pink as they always did when he was complimented.

Scorpius looked very irritated. "I can do it, too."

Rose rolled her eyes. "But, unlike Al, you're a horrible teacher."

Scorpius opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted by the continuation of Irving's instructions. "We will be going over many dark creatures this year, and we will learn several defensive spells that help against certain creatures as well. First of all, we will be starting a project. You will be able to choose a partner, and you two will pick a dark creature to research. You will be drawing a picture of this dangerous creature along with a three rolls of parchment on its natural habitat, hazards, spells that you can use to defend yourself against it..."

Nobody paid attention after Irving said, 'You will be able to choose a partner.' All of them looked around frantically, mouthing words and silently making pairs. Albus looked towards Scorpius, but saw that he was staring at Rose with a dawning look of comprehension on his face.

"Are you going to ask to be her partner, then?" Albus whispered out of the corner of his mouth while Irving droned on.

Scorpius shrugged. Then he seemed to realize that Eric Derlwin was looking at Rose with the same expression of dawning comprehension. Scorpius turned back to Albus so fast that he almost cricked his neck. "Yeah," he mouthed. "_I_'ll be her partner, not _Derlwin_."

Albus looked around for another partner, desperately wishing that he wouldn't get stuck with Oswald. His eyes wandered over to Elina, who was looking straight at him, ignoring the ten other people who were trying to get her attention. Albus felt his face go warm and tried to control himself, desperately hoping that he didn't resemble a radish.

"You have this class period to choose your partners and your creatures," Irving said, calling the class' attention back to him. "Start... now!"

Albus leapt off his chair and sprinted over to where Elina was waiting, smiling encouragingly. "Hey, Al. We've worked together in projects before. Want to again? We work well together."

Albus wasn't sure how red he was, but he was sure that it didn't make him look any better. Why, _why_ did he have to inherit black hair with the trademark Weasley freckles and pale skin? It made him look like a purplish beet with spots whenever he got embarrassed—which was often around Elina. He finally managed to choke something out. "Er—yeah—sure!"

Before Elina could reply, they heard a commotion coming from the other side of the classroom.

"I asked Rose first, Derl-lose!" Scorpius was shouting.

"You don't even count as a person, you slimy snake! STUFF IT!" Derlwin bellowed back.

Scorpius fixed Rose with his most threatening glare, which looked like it was capable of burning buildings down. "Which one of us do you think should be your partner, then?" he said to her, his eyes narrowed dangerously and fists clenched.

Rose looked very nervous. "Er... well, Scorpius did ask first... I'm sorry, Eric."

Derlwin looked put out. "Fine!" he snapped, stalking off to ask one of his thuggish friends, who probably had the brains of a gnome. Gleeful, Scorpius seized Rose, a textbook, a quill, and a piece of parchment and dragged them all to a corner of the room.

"So, what creature should we choose?" asked Elina, smiling genuinely at Albus.

He grinned back stupidly. "Wha—what?"

Elina giggled, but repeated her question. She moved closer to him, and the intoxicating scent of vanilla and cinnamon clouded his senses. He tried to lazily put his arms on the table and appear cool and confident, but his elbows ended up missing the table entirely, and he tumbled out of his chair. Elina was trying her hardest to stifle her laughter. Embarrassed, Albus got back up, deciding to never attempt to look cool again. He couldn't pull it off like James could. He instead tried to figure out what he should say to her. It had to be something clever, something complimenting...

Albus cleared his throat in what he hoped was a very mature manner and tried to deepen his voice. "Do you know your eyes are the color of the poisonous potion, nicknamed the Beautiful Death? It's really hard to make, and there are potions that work better, but it's very delectable-looking, so it's easy to get the victim to drink it—"

"What are you trying to say?" Elina asked, confused.

Albus ditched the low, cool voice. "Your eyes are pretty," he whispered, so quietly that Elina couldn't hear him. He wanted to sink in the ground. Of all the things he could have compared Elina's eyes to, he chose the _poisonous potion_? Why did he have to come up with the worst pick-up lines in history?

"Come again?" Elina spluttered.

"N-Never mind, forget it," said Albus quickly. "So, what do you think we should do our creature project on?"

"Oh, yes," said Elina, returning to business. She flipped through her DADA book. "Let's see... do you want to do a really dangerous creature or something less daunting?"

Albus personally wanted to do the Basilisk, but he doubted Elina would like that. "It's your choice," he said.

She beamed. "Oh—okay then. I was thinking something like Pixies—they're really fun, but, of course, they're dangerous. And then there's something intriguing about an Erumpent, too..."

Albus tried to pay attention to every word, though he found it difficult to focus when he got distracted by the way Elina's eyebrows furrowed when she was concentrating, or the way she looked at him with her stunning blue-violet eyes, or how she smiled at him made his heart swoop, or the way her giggle made him feel on top of the world...

"So, what'll it be?" Elina finally asked, closing the textbook.

Albus chose randomly from her list of dangerous magical creatures. "The Mountain Troll, maybe?"

"All right, it's decided," Elina said, looking relieved. "Let's tell Da—I mean, Professor Irving—that we've finished."

Albus nervously followed her to the front of the room, certainly not eager to see Irving. The DADA professor regarded Albus coldly as he approached.

"So, you've chosen Snivellus as your partner," said Irving, glaring at his daughter.

"Yes, I did," Elina said levelly. "And, Daddy, I'd appreciate it if you acted like a professor should. Maybe—I don't know—you could sometimes call Al something acceptable, like Mr. Potter?"

Irving stared at his daughter for a moment. "Very well, _Mr. Potter._ Start researching your creature, then."

Elina grinned and pulled Albus back to their table. Albus was utterly shocked—Irving had never called him 'Mr. Potter' in a respectful manner before. Did Irving always do what his daughter asked him to?

"He's a really good daddy, actually," said Elina offhandedly as they began to page through their textbook on information about trolls. "He doesn't tell me anything, though. I don't know much about where he's from..."

Albus wondered whether if _he_ knew more about Elina than she did about herself. Did she know that she was from a different time?

"That letter that was in my locket last term," Elina continued quietly, "I asked Daddy what it meant. From where was Mummy sending me away from? Why was it so dangerous there? But Daddy didn't tell me anything. Nothing at all. I really want to know..."

It wasn't Albus's place to tell her, though. He watched her flipping through the pages with concentration, her eyebrows furrowing. He found that he could stare at her for ages and ages without ever tiring of it.

* * *

Finally, the long-awaited Potions lesson arrived. Their breaths short with anticipation, the Gryffindors and Slytherins approached the dungeons. Their next lesson was Potions, which was, as ever, with the Gryffindors. Albus could only hope that Sapienta was better than their teacher last year, Hershel Heartley, who had not taught anything at all. Fortunately, judging from all the praise he was hearing for her, he was expecting her lesson to be nothing short of amazing.

Tentatively, they stepped into the Potions classroom, but Sapienta wasn't there yet. Albus, Rose, and Scorpius took a seat in the middle of the room, and Albus glanced around at the walls to see posters of various potions. He found these posters fascinating, but he was the only one who seemed to think so—everyone else looked bored out of their skulls. A few minutes later, Sapienta arrived. The doors closed behind her with a bang as she swept in, her emerald-green cloak billowing behind her.

"Welcome," said Sapienta curtly. "I am Professor Sapienta. Get out your cauldrons. Instructions are on the board. Begin." With those words, she sat down in her desk and pulled out a thick book to read. She threw her legs onto the desk in front of her and stretched out, lazily surveying them over the top of her book.

"This is stupid!" Rose snapped. "The moment she comes in, she orders us to make a potion."

"I like this way better," said Albus. He stood up and practically sprinted towards the store cupboard to take out the ingredients. It had been a _very_ long time since he had been able to make potions in class. He returned to his desk, lit a fire under his cauldron, and added water.

"Wait a moment," said Scorpius from behind his own cauldron. "What's the name of the potion? She didn't write the name on the board."

"Then it's a surprise," said Albus happily, smiling and humming creepily as he stirred his potion.

"You're mental, you are," Rose muttered, violently chopping up her roots.

An hour later, the room had been filled to the top with smoke. Albus's round glasses had fogged up, and he had to keep wiping them on his robes in order to see the instructions. At last, Sapienta looked up from her book and surveyed the classroom. She frowned and flicked her wand, and the air suddenly became breathable again. "Now, let's see what you all managed," she said coldly, standing up. She started at the back of the classroom, glaring at several students for making what she deemed 'rubbish.' Derlwin got twenty points taken away from Gryffindor because he hadn't done anything but chuck wadded-up parchment at Albus, Scorpius, and Oswald. When Sapienta reached Albus's table, he held his breath. Was she going to bring up what had happened on the train? Fortunately, she only said what he had been half-expecting: "This... this potion is perfect."

"Not surprising," said Rose, giving Albus a jealous look.

Sapienta took a vial of Albus's potion and walked back to her desk to record it in her grade book, smiling. "The name of this potion is called the _Animalia Potion_. I bet you all thought this class was going to be boring, but I promise, it will not be. Come up and taste it!"

"Taste it?" Scorpius spluttered. "No way!"

Sapienta scowled. "I'm not going to poison you, silly boy. Is anyone going to try? Come on!"

"I'll do it if_ Scorpy_ is too much of a baby," said Rose, causing Scorpius to turn pink and seethe silently. She skipped up to the front of the classroom, dipped her vial into the potion, and raised it to her lips. The moment she swallowed it, she emitted a loud, threatening—but still obviously feline—growl. "What was that?" she spluttered, once the effect had worn off.

"The Animalia Potion is designed to make you sound like your _inner animal_, the same animal that is your Patronus or Animagus form. Miss Weasley, for example, is most likely a wildcat of some sort," Sapienta explained.

Rose grinned and started to blabber to whoever was listening. "I hope I'm a leopard—or maybe even a panther—or a cheetah!"

The rest of the class got up excitedly and all ran to Albus's cauldron, all eager to find out what their inner animal was. Scorpius made his way to the front of the line by kicking the Gryffindors' shins and hastily dipped his vial in the potion. A moment later, he let out a caw. "A bird..." He considered it for a moment. "Maybe a crow, or a raven."

All of a sudden, strange noises took over the students. A monkey was squealing, a mouse was squeaking, and an elephant was trumpeting. Albus could have sworn that he heard the grunt of a rhinoceros coming from a pudgy Gryffindor boy. It was the most fun they had ever had in a Potions lesson, and none of them wanted it to end.

Eventually, it was Elina's turn. When she took the potion, a musical, beautiful neighing noise echoed around the room, giving everyone strength. "Wasn't that—was that—" She broke off, breathless. A moment later, she started again. "T-That was—it was—"

"A unicorn," said Sapienta wisely. "A very rare inner animal form. Only the purest of heart and kindest of intentions can have it."

At last, it was Albus's turn. Sapienta watched him closely as he stepped up to the cauldron and scooped up a bit of his potion. The next time he opened his mouth, a low, deadly hiss escaped from it.

His inner animal was a snake.

He really _was_ the Serpent King.


	6. The Assassinator's Sister

**-Chapter Six-**

**The Assassinator's Sister**

As time went on, life at Hogwarts became routine. Albus, Scorpius, and the rest of the Slytherins slithered around in the shadows, fighting back against their tormentors, and most of the Gryffindors continued to strut around with their heads inflated. James especially seemed to have reached new levels of arrogance by giving all his thuggish friends spots on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Unfortunately, Derlwin had been picked as Beater, and Albus and Scorpius had spent one Herbology lesson enduring Derlwin's bragging and threats. Needless to say, Scorpius had lost his temper and had chucked a bag of dragon dung at Derlwin's head, which had caused him to get a detention. Albus had kept his friend's spirit going by secretly jinxing Derlwin to trip over a starving Venomous Tentactula.

As ever, the Dueling Program and Quidditch practices continued, and Wyatt Hemley, the Captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, was training them ruthlessly. Albus had to regularly survive a rigorous obstacle course that made him dizzy from avoiding Bludgers.

Dueling practices were attended by the whole school in the Great Hall, and the professors roamed around among the students to record certain students' achievements on their clipboards. Albus and Scorpius, unsurprisingly, were doing very well and were both expecting to be placed in the most advanced Group for dueling. Rose seemed to be working extremely hard as well, and her eyes were always shining with determination. Her goal was to get into the best group, but both Albus and Scorpius doubted she would. She was very hardworking and book-smart, but her wand didn't seem to like her very much, and she often struggled with the practical part of magic. Even so, she seemed set on at least achieving one of the top two Groups.

The last all-school Dueling Lesson before the students were separated into groups was scheduled to be the first week of October. To their surprise, Triton announced a day before that Ministry representatives would be attending this final lesson. Both Drake Edgeworth—one of the candidates for the Minister of Magic—and Reyna Lyserian—sister to the escaped prisoner—would be coming to assess the talent at Hogwarts. "Therefore, you should do your very best," said Triton at dinner, sounding bored.

Albus picked at his kidney-and-steak pie uninterestedly, tuning out the end of Triton's announcement. But, a moment later, he jumped about a foot in the air when someone tapped on his shoulder. He whirled around, ready to defend himself, before he realized that it was Lily. He relaxed and gave her a small smile. "Hi, Lily."

"I haven't spoken to you in ages," said Lily, throwing a leg over the bench and sitting down at the Slytherin table next to him.

Everyone in the entire hall stared, mouths agape. James was steaming with fury, the Gryffindors looked betrayed, and the Slytherins looked shell-shocked. Albus gulped. It was common knowledge at Hogwarts not to mingle with Slytherins. Surely, Lily must have known that by now, even if she was a first year. "Er—Lily—are you sure you want to sit here?"

Lily nodded, seized an empty plate, and scooped mashed potatoes on it. "It's no fair that you're lonely at the Slytherin table all the time. Just because you're in a different House doesn't mean that you should sit alone."

"I'm not sitting alone, though," said Albus weakly. He appreciated his sister's gesture, but he didn't want her to be kicked out of Gryffindor for sitting with him.

"Not now that I'm here," added Lily cheekily, winking at him.

Albus sighed deeply. "Okay. Stay, then." To his surprise, Lily seemed completely at ease. She didn't seem to mind the whispers of the rest of the school, and was soon joking around with him like she always did. Usually, he wouldn't like to be anywhere near his embarrassing little sister, but he saw so little of her now that she was in Gryffindor that he was glad to have some time to spend with her. At the end of dinner, Lily left for the Gryffindor table again, waving goodbye.

"Is that your sister?" asked Oswald quietly.

"Yeah," said Albus.

Oswald gazed at her retreating figure. "Oh. She's pretty cool to come to the Slytherin table when she's a Gryffindor."

Albus nodded, but bit his lip nervously. "I hope she doesn't get into too much trouble with the rest of them. There's a rule somewhere that you can't speak to Slytherins, unless it's to insult them."

"_Woah._ She's really brave to break it," Oswald murmured, still staring at Lily as though transfixed. "I couldn't do that."

"_You_ couldn't do much of anything," Scorpius muttered to Oswald underneath his breath. He turned to Albus and said, "What do you think of Reyna Lyserian coming here?"

Albus shrugged. "I don't really know. It's just Edgeworth the idiot—if he wins the elections, I'm going to pack up and leave Britain—and his colleague—who's also the sister of the bloke that's trying to kill me. I don't think it's that important."

Scorpius's mouth dropped open. "Not important? She's coming here to find talent! If we impress her, she might recommend us to the Ministry."

"Firstly, we're third years," said Albus. "So she wouldn't look at us. Secondly, we're _Slytherins_. She's not going to be interested in us, unless it's to call us power-hungry gits."

Scorpius seemed to wilt with disappointment.

* * *

The next day, the students poured into the Great Hall at seven o'clock for the last Dueling Lesson. A large stage had been set up in the middle of the Hall, and the professors were milling around it. Albus squinted through the crowd to see Drake Edgeworth, who was easy to spot due to his tall height and obvious scholarly look. Albus turned his attention to the woman who was standing next to Drake Edgeworth. She was hauntingly beautiful, with deathly pale skin, curly black hair, and shining golden eyes. He recognized her as Reyna Lyserian, whose picture he had seen in the newspapers a few times.

Scorpius whistled appreciatively. "Look at _her_."

Rose clenched her fists. "She's thirty-something, Scorpius."

"So what? A bloke can dream, right?" said Scorpius.

Rose gritted her teeth and did not respond.

Albus focused stared at Reyna Lyserian a little longer. She was the brother of the assassin Rayan Lyserian and the daughter of two Slytherins, but she was still somehow high up in the Ministry. She must have had to disown her family to rise so high. Though she had a pretty face, her eyes were sharp and intelligent. Even when he was standing many feet away, Albus could still sense that she was not a force to be reckoned with. She was powerful, maybe even deadly.

Triton strolled onto the stage and ordered them all to settle down. Once they had quieted down, he began to speak. "Welcome to Hogwarts, Mr. Edgeworth and Miss Lyserian. You'll find that all the students are on their best behavior and are looking forward to meeting you."

Albus snorted derisively. As Triton droned on, Albus sighed and looked away, determined to be as disrespectful as possible. He could practically feel Edgeworth's gaze boring into him, but he ignored it.

"Thank you, Gale," said Reyna Lyserian sweetly once Triton had finished blabbering, stepping forward.

Albus looked back up so quickly that his neck cricked. Lyserian's golden eyes surveyed the Great Hall, and she smiled at all of the students. Several boys were hastily adjusting their school ties, and Scorpius was staring at the politician with a dreamy look on his face.

"Hello, students of Hogwarts! If you do not know yet—" She laughed, as if the idea was ridiculous. "Mr. Edgeworth is one of the candidates for the Minister of Magic. If he wins the approaching elections and takes office, I will be his Advisor. We came here today to meet the wizarding world's future geniuses, and what better time to find them than the last Dueling Lesson at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? Try your best today and impress us."

Scorpius straightened his back.

Edgeworth stepped up next to Lyserian. He gave the students a warm smile, but it turned cold when it reached the Slytherins and Albus, who resisted the urge to stick his tongue out and contented himself with an ugly sneer.

"And I am, of course, Drake Edgeworth. I'm interested in how things are run at this school, and if I win the election, it will go through many changes—changes that will improve it. In addition to seeing how the education is at Hogwarts and what kind of students it houses, I also wanted to tell you all a little bit about the Ministry of Magic and how important it is for our long-peaceful society. For twenty-one years, we have gone without trouble. This long period of peace represents the success of the post-Second War Ministry. With the help of the new generation of wizards and witches, we will continue this peace and pave the road to a bright, safe future..."

Albus looked at his shoes. He couldn't see any safety or brightness in _his_ future. Every bit of trouble within fifty miles came and found him. At least he could take a small satisfaction in the fact that Edgeworth was lying. The events of the last two years had been covered up and hidden from the public eye to preserve calm. The Ministry had convinced itself that the danger was past them, that the events of Albus's first and second years were unrelated and random acts of madness of various wizards, and that the embodiment of evil was some weak spirit that had been defeated permanently by a twelve-year-old boy. Albus knew that all this wasn't true, though. He had been given the feeling that Hoffman, Heartley, and Rylon had been working _for_ somebody. They had all been trying to aid Cryptan, but that wasn't who they were following orders from—not _entirely_. Someone else was pulling the strings, controlling them, attempting to use Cryptan to take over the world like he had attempted to one thousand years ago.

What had the world been like back then? Cryptan had mentioned that all events having to do with him had been removed from history, so that when he returned the wizarding world would be unprepared for power of his scale. They had survived Grindelwald, Voldemort, and countless others. What was different about Cryptan? That he was a freak of nature, born only with the purpose to destroy? That he had powers supposedly above a wizard's? Albus had seen him, had seen how a single part of Cryptan had been so powerful. Albus had only survived because Cryptan had underestimated him, underestimated Albus's own powers. This was a mistake he was sure to never repeat.

"If you have any questions, please ask, in case any of you are considering careers with us later in your lives..." Edgeworth went on to blabber about nonsense that no one cared about, and Albus became distracted and stopped paying attention. Eventually, he jerked his head back to the stage and focused on Edgeworth once more.

"You see, our goal in this Dueling Program is to see how you're all doing," Edgeworth was continuing. "It's also to assess the curriculum of Hogwarts, which we think is satisfactory. It was Miss Lyserian's idea to have the upcoming _competition_ at Hogwarts."

Everyone's interest was piqued at the mention of the competition. They'd been waiting for it.

"We're going to be calling it the Colorful Competition," Edgeworth went on, only repeating what Triton had told them at the Welcoming Feast. "To encourage all House colors. As well as this, the teams will be named after colors. The teams will be of mixed Houses, which will help you all make new friends! There will be three events, in which the seven teams will compete with each other. Once your Dueling Groups are chosen, you will practice for the events. As the year continues, you will plan with your team as well as practice with your Dueling Groups, though the people in each will not be the same."

There was much eager whispering. Triton stood up and clapped his hands to get their attention again, ordering them to get into lines according to House so that role call could be taken. Albus saw Rose in an animated discussion with Elina a few students away, and he grabbed Scorpius by the arm and tried to get closer. Unfortunately, James, Derlwin, Richie Red, Garret Abath, and several other popular boys got to the girls first. Derlwin winked at Rose (which caused Scorpius to stiffen) and James threw an arm around Elina's shoulders (which caused Albus to seethe).

Disappointed, he turned back to the stage. It was usually decorated with the colors of the four Hogwarts Houses, but tonight it was in the colors of the Ministry of Magic. Edgeworth and Lyserian were both standing on the stage next to each other while roll call continued.

And the latter was staring right at him. Lyserian's golden eyes bored into his emerald ones, and Albus felt a twinge of pain go through his body. The pain increased tenfold, and Albus felt as if his head would split and his insides would burn up. He tore his eyes away from hers, but his head and body continued to throb.

"What happened to you?" asked Wyatt Hemley from behind Albus. "You look like you've just been shocked by _eltrissy_."

"It's pronounced _electricity,_" corrected fourth-year Petra Dylans.

"I-I'm f-fine," said Albus distractedly. But he wasn't fine at all. His freckles were standing out unusually well, which meant that his face had gone white. His knees were wobbling, and he could barely support himself.

Triton spoke again once role call had ended. "All right, let's begin! You know the drill! Pair up and commence with the warm ups. Try your best today, since it's the last practice before your Groups are chosen—and we also have our special Ministry guests watching!"

Albus immediately looked towards Scorpius. They began to fire hexes at each other at top speed, dodging and blocking equally quickly. He spared a glance for Elina, who was losing spectacularly to a Rose that was fighting like a lion.

"OI! Are you paying attention?" Scorpius asked, sending a nonverbal jinx toward Albus, who blocked it just in time.

"Very good, boys. Nonverbal spells—third years? That's a rarity." Albus and Scorpius stopped dueling and looked around to see who had spoken.

It was Reyna Lyserian. She had been walking around the Great Hall to watch the warm ups. Scorpius turned faintly pink and tried to smooth down his hair. Albus looked away, not wanting a repeat of the pain he had felt when he had looked into her luminous golden eyes before.

"Thank you," Scorpius said smoothly, flashing a toothy smile that made him look crazed.

Lyserian nodded and looked towards Albus, who said nothing. He kept his eyes firmly on his shoes. Scorpius nudged him and muttered, "What're you playing at? Say something!"

Albus looked up and gave her a smile that was more of a grimace. "T-t-thanks," he said shakily. He felt ill, and he wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. Lyserian grinned sinisterly and swept off, her fancy red robes billowing behind her.

Albus took a shuddering gasp.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Scorpius. "Maybe you should go to the Hospital Wing or something—ask a professor."

"N-No," Albus choked out. He waved his hand, signaling that Scorpius should leave him alone. "I'm just... peachy. Let's get back to dueling."

Twenty minutes later, Albus was feeling better. Lyserian was staying in the other side of the room, and he wasn't affected by whatever she was doing to him. Finally, the warm ups ended, and Professor Irving strutted up to the stage.

Irving began to speak. "All right, let's have a demonstration to show to our Ministry guests before we learn our spell for the day... how about—"

Reyna Lyserian stepped forward, winking at Irving. He froze, his gaze questioning. "My dear Luke, perhaps it would be better if Drake and I choose? We've been looking around, and there's some pairs that I want to see in more detail."

Gale Triton looked alarmed. The stupid headmaster stood up and flapped his arms around like an overgrown chicken. "Yes, yes, please do what you wish!" he blubbered, desperate to please the Ministry representatives.

Irving gritted his teeth, but stepped back respectfully to let the Ministry representatives take center stage. Lyserian called Edgeworth up. The latter began to survey the room with a bored expression, but the action wasn't necessary. Lyserian had evidently already chosen. "Mr. Scorpius Malfoy and Mr. Albus Potter, come up here!"

"How does she know our names?" said Albus, giving her a suspicious look.

Scorpius gave Albus an _'Are you kidding me?'_ look.

Obediently, the two Slytherin boys walked up to the stage. As Albus neared Lyserian, the pain returned in full force. How was he going to fight if he felt as if his insides were burning and freezing at the same time? But then—quite suddenly—the pain left him. Albus stood there, shocked, wondering why it had stopped so abruptly. Lyserian, giving no indication that she had noticed his pain or noticed anything at all, said, "Well, boys, bow to each other and start to duel!"

Albus and Scorpius smirked at each other, the latter bowing with unnecessary flourishes for maximum effect. Albus stayed reasonably modest, however. His thoughts were still on Reyna Lyserian.

"Three..." Albus winced slightly, his head still throbbing.

"Two..." Scorpius twirled his wand arrogantly and gave Lyserian—and for some strange reason, Rose—a quick look as if to see whether she had noticed.

"One!" A nonverbal Stinging Hex shot out of Albus' wand.

Scorpius managed to block it and replied with another nonverbal spell. For the next few minutes, jets of light of all colors lit up the Great Hall. Lyserian looked impressed, and Edgeworth looked bad-tempered. Albus and Scorpius kept dueling excellently, not tiring at all. But the rest of the school, as always, did not like that two Slytherins were the most talented students in the school.

Then, out of nowhere, a hot, searing pain filled Albus from top to bottom. The pain was so great and sudden that he almost yelled out. He whirled around to look at Lyserian, and saw that she was looking straight at him. The pain tripled. Scorpius' next spell—a nonverbal Disarming Charm—hit Albus, and his wand went spinning out of his hand. Scorpius pocketed his own wand and strolled off the stage, smug with his victory. Albus grabbed his wand off the ground and hurried behind his friend, not disappointed that he had lost. He was too worried about Lyserian to care about the duel. Why did she hurt him with her eyes like that? The only other person who had been able to do that was Professor Irving...

"Well done, well done," said Edgeworth coldly. Nobody seemed to have noticed Albus's momentary pain. "Now, I want to see some more demonstrations before this final all-school Dueling Lesson ends."

Albus locked eyes with Lyserian again while Edgeworth droned on. Then Albus clutched his throbbing head, which Lyserian had once again done something to, resisting the urge to be sick. A half-an-hour later, the lesson ended. Albus was gratefully leaving the Great Hall when a soft hand stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.

"Wait a moment, Mr. Potter."

Albus whirled around, his heart pounding with fear. It was Reyna Lyserian. "Yes?" he asked, trying to keep his voice emotionless.

"I was very impressed by your performance today, Mr. Potter," said Lyserian. She crouched so that she was at his level. Then, to his utter surprise, she stroked his hair like a mother would do to her son.

"T-Thanks," said Albus shakily, taken aback. _I'm officially creeped out now._

Lyserian looked him in the eyes once more, but this time he did not feel any pain. Instead, he felt calmed. He felt that he could trust her...

"You're an extraordinary wizard, aren't you? Everything you've done was brilliant, but you've never been credited. Doesn't that upset you? It makes you angry, doesn't it?" asked Lyserian soothingly, still patting his head.

Albus felt strangely hypnotized. "Yeah. It does. You understand?"

"Of course I understand," Lyserian purred. Her hand began to caress his cheek. "_You deserve more_."

"_I deserve more_...," Albus echoed blankly.

Lyserian smiled, and her golden eyes glinted. At that moment, Albus broke away from her gaze. Her hand dropped from his cheek.

"I expect we'll meet again, Al," she said sweetly. With that chilling promise, she swept back towards the adults, who were discussing the Hogwarts curriculum animatedly.

Albus stumbled away, dizziness taking over him like a spell.

* * *

A week later, the Dueling Groups were posted on the bulletin board in the Slytherin common room. Albus and Scorpius were not surprised to see that they were in Group One—the most advanced. This year, the Houses were mixed into the seven groups. Albus was horrified to see that James was in Group One, too. He spotted Elina under Group Four, and Lily, Hugo, and Rose—despite her efforts to get into Group One—were all in Group Two. Both Derlwin and Oswald, expectedly, were in Group Seven, which was the least advanced.

"James!" Albus groaned to Scorpius that morning. "He'll give me _hell_..."

The worst part, however, was that Irving was the instructor for Group One.

"I'm skiving off," Scorpius hissed on their way to the first group lesson. "There's James and some of his cleverer thugs, and then there's Irving! I can't decide who's worse."

They walked out of the dungeons, gloomy. Rose came up to them the moment they entered the Great Hall, glaring at everybody. "Group Two! _Arrgghh_! How come you two are always the best in everything?"

Scorpius smirked annoyingly and wagged a finger obnoxiously in Rose's face. "Well, we're—"

Fortunately, he was interrupted in his bragging by a shriek coming from the Slytherin table. Startled, they all looked in that direction to see that Oswald Nesbitt was hopping around, his hair on fire. Albus and Scorpius left Rose and sprinted to the Slytherin table, but by the time they reached it, the flames had gone out due to Wyatt Hemley's well-done _Aguamenti_ Charm.

"What happened?" said Albus.

"His goblet exploded," said Gerald Erwett, giving Oswald a pitying glance. "Filibuster Fireworks. Some prank, I bet. His eyebrows are singed off."

Albus looked at Oswald, who was near tears. The Gryffindor table exploded into laughter, and the professors—with the exception of Sapienta—didn't seem all too bothered and passed the incident off as an accident. "I-I don't understand," Oswald whispered, "what makes them hate me so _much_..."

"Ignore them?" Albus offered weakly. He knew it wouldn't work, but he didn't have any other advice. Oswald had already made it clear that he didn't want to defend himself or fight against his attackers.

But this time, there was something different in Oswald's expression. He looked furious—not just sad. His fists were clenched, and he was glaring into the tablecloth so hard that his gaze almost left holes in it. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, they were blazing. "Who was it?" he said through gritted teeth.

"Er—what?" Albus was stunned due to the sudden change in Oswald.

"I want to know who did it!" Oswald raised his voice. He slammed his fist into the table.

Albus and the rest backed away in alarm. They had never seen Oswald like this before.

"I'm _done_. I'm done with dealing with all this!" Oswald's voice was low again, so low that it was like a hiss. "Do these _dunderheads _want to make me miserable? Well, I'll make them cry so hard that they'll want to throw themselves off the Astronomy Tower."

They stared at him, shocked.

Oswald continued speaking. A brown fire was blazing in his eyes. He was almost simmering with hatred. "I'll make them wish they were dead. Two years—two _years_—they haven't left me alone. I'll show them."

"A-Are you—are you all right?" spluttered Albus, not sure whether this was Oswald or not.

Oswald gave him a glare furious enough to incinerate him. "And _you_ haven't made anything better! Anyways, are you happy now? I won't let you Body-Bind me again or talk bad about me again! I'm tired of _you_, too. Why don't I just show you _all_ what I can do?" With those cold words, Oswald stalked out of the Great Hall, still emitting the acrid odor of burning hair.

The Slytherins and Albus sat there, even more shocked than before. He could remember the incident when he had Stunned Oswald in order to save the Phantasm Orb from Hoffman in the first year. Oswald clearly hadn't liked that. And he and Scorpius had always left Oswald out and ignored him. Albus had never really considered how Oswald had been feeling. And now, Oswald had been pushed to the breaking point.

"At least he's going to fight back," said Scorpius, not looking the least bit bothered about Oswald's outburst.

"Yeah," said Albus distractedly, taking a bite of toast. He paused before taking another bite, having just realized something. "I guess he really is a Slytherin. Deep, deep inside."

After lunch that day, Albus and Scorpius dragged themselves to Irving's class, looking for any way to escape the level-specific Dueling Lesson. "I'll say that I'm ill," Scorpius said frantically, walking slower and slower as they approached the DADA classroom.

Unfortunately for them, neither of the boys had acquired a cold by the time they reached Irving's classroom. To their relief, nobody—except for a few anxious first years—was there yet. The two Slytherins sulked in the shadows of the room, and they remained unnoticed as more people came in. A few minutes later, James strutted into the classroom as if he owned the whole world. Behind him were Fred and Louis, two of Albus's cousins. The girls within a ten-foot radius immediately began to swoon and giggle hysterically, even the supposedly sensible and smart ones.

"_What_," began Scorpius angrily, "is the big deal about them?"

Albus had puzzled over this very question for a few years now, and he hadn't been able to answer it yet.

"Sorry, ladies," said Fred, chortling. "We're already taken."

"I dunno, Fred," said Louis, sweeping his strawberry blond hair off his forehead for the girls' benefit, "I think little Jamesie here is still a bachelor."

"Don't encourage them!" James snapped, flopping down in a seat and putting his feet up on the desk in front of him. "It's not my fault that Elina can't take a hint—"

"Don't worry 'bout it," Fred said. "At least you're not like Louis here, who has a girlfriend for every day of the week—"

"Oh, thanks, Fred." Louis grinned, showing off his perfect dimples. "You've reminded me to get rid of Sasha. Maybe I'll ask out pretty little Lyon next..."

James gave Louis a very nasty look and ran a hand through his jet black hair, making it even untidier. "Don't even dare. You'll mess her up like you do to every other girl—"

Both Fred and Louis started to laugh their heads off. "He was joking, James," Fred gasped, clutching his stomach. "Aw, so _sweet_! Cutie-pie Jamesie is in _love_!"

The girls who were listening started to whisper. Nearly all of them looked murderous.

Albus sunk even deeper into the shadows, wanting to escape notice. He knew what made James even more desirable was that he wasn't a player like Louis or Fred—it was rumored that he hadn't even been kissed yet. (Not to mention the fact that James was more handsome and famous than both Fred and Louis put together.)

"Shut it," James said, arrogantly twirling his wand and throwing it up into the air.

"But it's really worrying," Fred continued. "I mean, I thought she'd be all over you, but she's blind or something."

"I think she fancies your loser of a little brother," snickered Louis.

Albus's heart began to beat faster.

James let out a squeak of fury. "No way! Don't be a git, Louis."

"Again, I was just joking." Louis put his hands up in surrender. "Don't get your wand in a knot. Nobody would be interested in that scrawny, slimy traitor, anyways."

Albus's heart deflated in disappointment, and he felt a pang of hurt at Louis calling him a traitor. He had never been close with the cool boy cousins of his family—Louis and Fred—but they had never been outright mean to him.

_Why do they hate me so much?_

Before Albus could gloomily ponder this question, Irving strolled into the classroom. The door shut with a bang, and everyone in the room went silent. Albus and Scorpius cautiously crept out of the shadows, but everybody was too preoccupied with watching Irving to notice them. "All of you who have made it here today are very advanced in dueling. You are the prodigies that represent the school, and you should all be capable of casting spells at top speed. Some of you should be able to cast nonverbal spells. No dunderheads are tolerated in this group. If you cannot keep up, ask to be transferred into a less advanced group. This highly advanced group requires the best effort from everybody," said Irving, his tone no-nonsense.

Everyone hurriedly nodded in reply, not wanting to be on the receiving end of one of his icy-blue glares, but Albus barely resisted the urge to sneer behind Irving's back.

"Good! Get up and line up against the wall! Now!" barked Irving.

Albus did as he was told, wondering what fresh tortures Irving had in store for him. Even worse, James had finally noticed him. He nudged Louis and Fred, and identical evil grins broke out on the three Gryffindor boys' faces, causing dread to fill Albus up to the top. Once everyone was assembled, Irving waved his wand. All the desks disappeared, and were replaced with dummies wearing cloaks.

"What's going on?" asked a fifth year.

"Group dueling," Irving explained shortly, with a smirk. "These dummies will fire spells when I give the word. You all must dodge and try to hit back. Each of the dummies needs three hits before it'll stop casting spells. The aim is to work _together _to deactivate all the dummies, not to sabotage your group members' chances to win."

Albus and James glared at each other, ignoring everything that Irving was telling them _not_ to do.

"Now, when I say go, you all start!" he ordered. And then, utterly and completely without warning—"_GO_!"

All of the members leapt into action at the same time. Albus put up several protective enchantments around him and other various group members before jumping into the mock battle. Quite suddenly, all the dummies began firing silently, and jets of multicolored light lit up the room. Albus hit one of the dummies three times with three different jinxes, darting around it so that it would not get a clear shot at him, and it hung limp. Before he could get away, a hex broke through one of his weaker protective enchantments. But the caster was not a dummy—it was James.

Albus gritted his teeth and ducked, barely avoiding the spell, which whizzed past his ear. He whirled around to face James, uttering a choice swear word at him.

"My little _Albaby_, it's not becoming of a young gentleman to use such crude language!" James scolded mockingly, waving his finger and doing his best imitation of their grandmother. Then he narrowed his eyes, and a smirk crossed over his annoyingly handsome features. "Maybe I should clean out your mouth, _Snivellus_."

"You wish, Gryffin_git_," Albus spat, following up the 'git' with a few more colorful swears. "_Ardere!" _A thin jet of blazing orange fire shot out of his wand's tip. It would have been right on mark if James hadn't dodged.

James and Albus began to duel ferociously, circling each other like hawks at the same time as firing spells. (Nobody reprimanded them; Irving had mysteriously disappeared.) The two brothers tore through the room, deactivating several dummies by accident. Half an hour later, both boys were exhausted. James had Albus backed into a corner, and Albus could see no way out.

"So," James said, smirking nastily, "that was fun, wasn't it?"

"Not particularly," Albus growled, the gears in his brain turning at full speed. He had to find a way out... he couldn't lose, not to James...

"Give up, then?" James asked cockily. "I could finish this with a nice Bat-Bogey Hex..."

"You could...," said Albus, trailing off, "...but I won't give you the chance. _Laevore!"_

As if he were jumping on a giant trampoline, Albus rose into the air and spun over James, using the magic to help lift him. Before he touched down, he shouted, "_Spongify!" _A second later, he safely landed on a small, invisible cushion that had attached itself to the ground.

James gritted his teeth, furious that he had let Albus escape. "_Melofors!"_

Albus blocked it nonverbally. They continued shooting spells at each other, easily clearing a path through the other duelists. Albus was too focused on James to notice the dummies and his group members. One of James's nonverbal jinxes missed Albus and hit the second-last dummy instead, and it went limp. Neither brother noticed. Albus sent a silent Full Body-Binding Curse at James, who ducked and narrowly avoided it. The spell gone off-course hit the final dummy, which stopped moving immediately. The other duelists stopped what they were doing to watch Albus and James, who were unaware that the lesson was over. Irving came out of the back room, evidently amused at the spectacle that was going on in front of him. Finally, Albus and James noticed him. The two brothers faced each other, wands pointing down, panting and sweaty but still very angry.

"The lesson is over. Next Saturday, same time." The students examined the aftermath of the duel. The floor of the classroom now vaguely represented the surface of the moon. "That was good," continued Irving. "But next time, I expect better teamwork..." He trailed off, looking pointedly at James and Albus, who weren't even listening to him but still glaring at each other so hard that lightning seemed to shoot from their eyes.

Albus pocketed his wand, raising an eyebrow at James as if to say, '_We'll finish this later.'_

James smirked and wiped his forehead, mouthing, '_Definitely.'_

* * *

"Blimey, who knew that the Gryffindork could fight so well?" Scorpius commented once they were in the library after the Group Dueling Lesson.

"James can fight as well as me," Albus pointed out. Then he smirked. "But he's still a year older." Before he could snicker over this fact, a voice from outside reached his ears.

"Hi, Scorpius, Al! What happened at your dueling lesson?" asked Rose happily, entering the library at that moment with Elina. Fortunately, they weren't with Derlwin or James or any of the other Gryffindors.

"Albus and James didn't follow the rules," Scorpius snickered.

Rose wasn't listening. She had already started chattering away about her lesson with Group Two, her disappointment at not getting into Group One evidently forgotten. "It was pretty cool. Professor Patil demonstrated for us and we did a few drills. I had to partner up with a sixth-year Hufflepuff named Ellen Macmillan. She was nice, but she got so upset when she lost..."

Scorpius was completely engrossed in Rose's conversation (he was criticizing every spell she had used), but Albus had no interest in what she was saying. He instead turned to Elina and gave her a crooked grin that probably made him look like a Jack O' Lantern whose expression had been carved badly.

She didn't seem to mind, though. "How was the Dueling Lesson? You're smart enough to be in Group One, aren't you?" She couldn't keep the jealous tone out of her voice. "You must have had Daddy as an instructor, right? How was he?"

Albus shrugged noncommittally. He had no compliments whatsoever to give to Elina's father, and he didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"You were with James, weren't you?" said Elina curiously.

Albus's heart sunk to his feet. He did _not_ want to talk about James. "Y-Yeah," he mumbled. He decided not to mention that he and James had dueled, even when they weren't supposed to. Elina hated to see the brothers fighting—especially when it was over _her_, which was often—and wouldn't want to hear that.

Elina changed the subject quickly. "Are you finished with that Charms essay?" she asked.

"Oh—what? This? Y-Yeah," he lied, surreptitiously shoving his half-finished essay into his schoolbag.

She beamed. "That's great! If you're done, there's something I want to show you. In _private_."

Albus nearly toppled off his seat, and Scorpius and Rose both looked around so fast that they cricked their necks. Scorpius whistled suggestively, while Rose giggled. Albus was having trouble thinking straight, but Elina had enough presence of mind to respond to their snickers. "It's not like that," she said, shaking her head. "I just want to show him something."

Albus wasn't sure whether to feel disappointed or relieved. "O-Okay." He stood up and hoisted his schoolbag onto his shoulder. He gave her what he hoped was a warm smile, but it probably turned out just looking shifty. _What_ was wrong with his face? _Why_ did it feel like it was half frozen and half melted?

Elina grinned back, her smile bright enough to light up all of Hogwarts—not to mention perfect and dimpled. "Come on, then!" She picked her own schoolbag up and skipped out of the library.

How did she manage to be so happy all the time? It was amazing. She could cheer anyone up with just a smile, and she never frowned. She was like a shining sun to Albus, someone that would be there to make him happy no matter what. It didn't matter whether he was being chased by a hundred assassins—as long as he was with her, it was easy to forget his problems. She had that sort of effect on him.

"Where are we going?" For once, Albus wasn't stuttering stupidly.

Elina winked mischievously, causing Albus to turn red. "You'll see," she said.

They walked out onto the Hogwarts grounds. Many people seemed to be taking advantage of the good weather, since it was the very beginning of October. The skies would soon turn cloudy and the breeze would become ice-cold, which was most likely why there were so many people outside, determined to use up the last warm days of the year.

"We're going to the Forbidden Forest," said Elina, leading him through Hagrid's giant pumpkins. They passed the padlock that held the Griffins, but they did not stop there. Albus gazed at the forest, which was half in ruins. He could remember when he and Cryptan had blasted the trees away like it had happened yesterday. Even though he and Cryptan had destroyed the Forbidden Forest in their battle at the end of last term, the trees, magically resilient as ever, had begun to grow back, their thick roots choking the ground. At the edge of the forest, Elina halted and turned around. "You know what the Sapphire Unicorn is, right? Last year in the Headmaster's Office, after we came back from the forest with the cure and you'd saved me and the rest"—she blushed slightly—"you told your daddy about how you'd seen the Sapphire Unicorn and how she gave you the Sorting Hat."

Albus nodded slowly. "Yeah. You said that you knew her ever since you were really young."

"It's true," said Elina, still blushing. "Well, since you're the second human she's ever shown herself to, I thought that I should give you a proper introduction. Let's go." Elina walked into the forest, not showing the slightest bit of fear. The newly grown tall trees—which appeared to have grown at an impossibly fast rate that normal trees never could—loomed overhead, their branches extended like claws. It was very dark under the thick canopy of leaves, but, for some strange reason, Elina seemed to shine bright enough to light the way.

"It's over this way," she said in a hushed voice, taking a pebbled path deeper into the forest.

"Did you memorize the way?" asked Albus.

Elina nodded and blushed again. "I used to come here a lot before I became a student. Staying in the castle was embarrassing for me, because I was the only person there who was younger than eleven. And I couldn't attend classes, obviously, so all I could really do was wander around. So, I spent as much time as I could in the Forbidden Forest."

"B-But there are a lot of dangerous things in here!" Albus spluttered. "You shouldn't be going around here alone! You could get hurt, or killed—"

"You're really cute when you worry, you know," Elina teased, turning around to face him.

Albus's cheeks flushed with color, but he refused to be distracted. "You really shouldn't, Elina! There are acromantulas, centaurs, and—"

"I'll be _fine_," Elina insisted, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes as if she were being scolded by a well-meaning but clueless parent.

Albus continued to argue with her as they walked deeper into the wild forest. "If you have to come here, you shouldn't come alone."

"Fine, _Mummy_," Elina giggled. "Next time, you can come with me."

Albus opened his mouth, was unable to respond, and simply closed it again. They pressed on into the heavy foliage. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Elina said, "Al, the creatures that have lived here don't hurt me. They never have."

This would have been shocking, but it strangely fit for Elina. She was indeed the Eternal Maiden, the protector of wildlife. She loved cared for animals of all kinds, and all creatures respected her in turn. Even the bloodthirsty acromantulas and the grumpy centaurs wouldn't attack her. "Oh," said Albus, rather stupidly, a moment later.

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask you, do you know why that is?" Elina asked. "I remember you said something about the 'Eternal Maiden' last year. And Cryptan called me that in my head, too."

Albus paused and took a deep breath. "Yeah. That's because _you're_ the Eternal Maiden." He explained to her what that meant.

"The guardian of wild animals?" Elina echoed in awe. "Really? _Me_?"

"It makes a lot of sense," said Albus firmly. He remembered what the Sapphire Unicorn had called the Eternal Maiden last year: '_She is a young girl of unrivaled beauty, kindness, and generosity.' _Elina was kind and caring, and judged others on not what they were on the outside, but what they were on the inside. She was one of the only people who did not hate him because he was in Slytherin, and she alone had been kind to him when he had been friendless and lonely in the beginning of his first year. Her smiles always made his day seem ten times better (not to mention, they also made his heart flutter). _What's wrong with me? _thought Albus in horror. _Why am I thinking like a sappy git? _He shook his head slightly, as if trying to warn off a fly. He was _not_ going to let his brain melt into to a puddle of goo, no matter how amazing Elina was.

They seemed to be nearing their destination, because Elina had picked up her pace. As they walked on, Albus watched her light brown hair, which looked darker because of the lack of light, swing behind her. She was even prettier than he had realized. A truly terrible thought came to him just then. It wasn't a secret that James fancied Elina, too. What if they started going out? James was the Golden Boy—popular, handsome, and intelligent. There was no one else that Albus was more jealous of. Imagining Elina and James dating made Albus's stomach clench painfully. He wouldn't be able to stand it.

Elina suddenly broke out into a run, oblivious to the thoughts spinning inside Albus's head. It took a few long seconds for him to realize that she had already leapt through a wall of bushes. Albus followed her, though not nearly as gracefully. Thorns snagged on his robes, and he received a long scratch down his arm from an angry low-hanging branch. A moment later, he and Elina emerged into a clearing. This clearing seemed to be a pocket of light, and the trees did not block out the sun here. Even though it was very pretty, it was still empty. Elina looked around, disappointed.

"Oh well, if she's not here, I'll just have to call her." Elina closed her eyes for a brief second, as if sending out a mental call. Albus jumped when he spotted a blue blur approaching at top speed, disturbing leaves that it passed and causing them to rustle. It jerked to a stop in the middle of the clearing, and Albus could properly see the figure. She was beautiful, like all unicorns. But this was the Queen of Unicorns, and she was easy to tell apart from the rest of them. While other unicorns were pure white, the Sapphire Unicorn was a deep blue shade and seemed to shine brighter than all of the others put together.

"_Lady Elina, Lord Albus." _The Sapphire Unicorn bowed her head in greeting. When she spoke, they could hear her voice vibrating inside them, as if she were speaking straight into their heads.

"So, you know each other," said Elina, turning to Albus with a raised eyebrow.

"Vaguely," said Albus dryly. _The Sapphire Unicorn only warned me a couple of times and saved my life. I suppose I do 'vaguely' know her._

"The Sapphire Unicorn speaks to each of us separately," Elina explained as the Sapphire Unicorn remained silent and Albus stared at her. "She's saying something private to me, but you can't hear it."

"Oh," said Albus. "What's she saying to you?"

Elina turned pink. "She just asked, 'Why haven't you visited me in such a long time?'"

"What's your answer?" asked Albus, smiling slyly.

Elina spluttered out something incomprehensible, apparently at a loss.

This time, the Sapphire Unicorn turned to mentally speak to Albus. "_She's found new friends. But I was, and will always be, her first. You are her best."_

"What did she say?" asked Elina, cocking her head.

Albus, who had turned red at the Sapphire Unicorn's words, mumbled, "S-She said that you'd found new friends, but she'd always be your first." He left out the part where she had mentioned that he was Elina's best friend. What if Elina didn't agree?

Elina beamed. "That's true. She really is my first friend." There was a pause as the Sapphire Unicorn nodded something to Elina. "And now she's told me that I'd better not forget her. Of course I won't." She stroked the Sapphire Unicorn's head lovingly.

The Sapphire Unicorn focused her dark blue eyes on Albus, and he stared back into them, feeling instantly calmed. His content feeling disappeared at her next words, however. "_Danger is coming, and the long period of peace that has surrounded the wizarding society will soon come to a jarring halt."_

Albus stood there, shocked.

"_I have warned you once, I have warned you twice, and I have saved your life. It is time you repay the debt by preparing."_

Preparing?

"_Preparing for the fight of your life. The fate of the world rests in your hands, and your trials are not close to over."_

Albus was still stunned, but he nodded slowly to confirm that he had heard. Elina stared at him and the Sapphire Unicorn, confused and obviously feeling out of the loop.

"_The day when you will be tested draws nearer and nearer. No matter how difficult it becomes, you must choose the right side to set free."_

What did she mean?

"_A storm is coming, and you will be swept into the very middle of it." _The Sapphire Unicorn gave him one last nod, nuzzled against Elina's side for a moment, and then bounded off, once more becoming a blazing blue blur.

"What did she say to you?" Elina asked.

Albus swallowed nervously. "S-She just said goodbye," he lied.

Elina didn't look convinced, but she didn't press the matter, realizing that he didn't want to share. Albus's thoughts returned to what else the Sapphire Unicorn had told him. Her words made the blood in his veins turn to ice, and a sick feeling settled in his stomach. Those words had completely ruined his mood, and gloom overcame him like a suffocating blanket. Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Elina. She had apparently noticed the frown on his face. Instead of bothering him about it, she just kept her hand on his shoulder, silently supporting him. He stared at her, and she stared at him, both standing, unmoving, in that eerily beautiful clearing. The sunlight gave her a glowing halo and turned her light brown hair golden. Strangely enough, when he looked into her sparkling eyes, all his worries seemed to melt away as if they had never been.

* * *

**Author's Note: Okay, WOAH. I've been getting a LOT of reviews lately. I have no idea how this story got so popular so quickly, but I'm really happy it did - so thank you all so much! I love you reviewers, especially the ones who reviewed multiple chapters! I never expected this to get so popular, and I'm still shocked, but THANK YOU! I think I've spent more time nagging everyone to review than thanking them for reviewing, so... THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU FOR BEING AWESOME PEOPLE!**

**Next up: I'd like to say, in response to a reviewer's question, that Albus did NOT suffer from neglect, at least not in the way Harry did. Albus purposefully extricated himself from his family because he didn't think he belonged with them. He wanted to be a part of them, but he was too socially awkward and strange. His family tried to treat him well, but he never properly responded to their attempts. His parents cared for him and gave him love, but he was VERY quiet, so quiet that he faded into the background, especially around James, to whom he has always felt inferior. Albus was a very depressed, gloomy child that allowed his brother and others to step all over him, and he didn't fight back until he was "disowned" for being Sorted into Slytherin. Harry and Ginny continued to love him, but the Weasleys' old wounds opened up again when one of their own was Sorted into the House that had indirectly caused the death of Fred and countless others. Harry IS very close to Albus, closer than any other family member, in fact. You'll see that in this book a lot. There are a lot of Harry/Al father/son moments - throughout the whole series, even. Considering that Albus's adventures parallel his father's, the two have a lot of similarities that they come to realize.**

**Since I decided to write this long of an author's note already, I guess there's no harm in making it longer, right? I'd like to address what some other reviewers mentioned: Lily's and Hugo's Sortings. Many seemed to want one or the other in Slytherin, but Albus is always going to be the lone Slytherin in his family. Don't worry, though. As you saw from this chapter, Lily's still nice and hasn't turned into a jerk because she was Sorted in Gryffindor. Lily also plays a GIANT role in the series, maybe even as much as James. Hugo also has a somewhat decent role later, I guess, but he doesn't exactly get the spotlight like both Lily and James do in the future.**

**Speaking of James, he has a HUGE role in this book and the rest of the series. In fact, both Elina's and James's roles significantly increase in this book, so expect to see a lot of them. I've gotten a lot of criticism on James's character (I've got no problem with that! I love constructive criticism! Throw it at me - I'll catch it, and it can only help. As long as it's not mean, though). A lot of people seem to think that he's a bully with no motives and no heart. That's not true - he's in no way the mischievous, popular boy that everyone else sees him as, but he's not as evil and cruel as Albus's point of view makes him look. James is a huge jerk, yes, but to be honest, I have fallen in LOVE with James's very messed up character - he's even more complicated and messed up than Albus is - and that's saying something. I really don't want to spoil anything, but I assure you that James's role is nearly as important as Albus's at some points, and I think that he's even more important than Rose and Scorpius. Especially in the fourth book - we learn James's deepest, darkest secrets in book 4. Albus may hate him, but know that the two boys are brothers, and Lily Evans' sacrifice taught us that blood ties are stronger than anything.**

**I'll let you figure THAT hint out.**

**-Crystalline**

**P.S. And thank you so much again for the reviews! You guys rock!**


	7. The Firebolt's Last Flight

**-Chapter Seven-**

**The Firebolt's Last Flight**

"I need to check up on Herwina," said Albus with an air of finality at lunch on Wednesday.

Scorpius swirled a spoon in the remains of his soup and gave a noncommittal shrug. "Whatever."

"Come with me," Albus ordered.

"Why?" Scorpius whined.

"Because," began Albus, lowering his voice, "if James catches me alone, he'll kill me."

Albus was indeed telling the truth. Unfortunately, when he and Elina had come out of the forest the other day, James had spotted them. If jealousy had a form, it would have been James at that moment. He had been hunting down Albus for a week now, determined to catch him unawares and strangle him for walking within a twenty-foot radius of Elina.

Scorpius gave a long-suffering sigh and stood up, pushing the empty soup bowl away. "Fine. But I doubt that me being there would stop him."

Albus ignored these words and started out of the Great Hall. To his horror, he realized that James and his friends (more commonly known to the Slytherins as his cronies) were not sitting at their usual places at the Gryffindor table. Where were they, then?

This question was answered almost immediately. The moment that Albus and Scorpius reached the third floor, they were ambushed by James and his usual thugs.

Albus groaned. He didn't have time for this. With a sigh, he asked, "What do you want, James?"

James, unsurprisingly, was at the head of the group. Garret Abath, Eric Derlwin, Richie Red, and several other older popular Gryffindors boys were with him, leering down at the two unpopular Slytherins. Albus and Scorpius took out their wands, eyes narrowed defiantly.

"Hey, hey," James said, smirking, "I didn't come here to fight!"

"Sure," Albus snapped. "Because you just like taking your thugs around with you all the time."

James glared at Albus with obvious loathing. "Shut it, Snivellus. Do you want to settle this the easy way or the hard way?"

"Settle _what, _exactly?" Albus asked in exasperation.

"You and Elina. Stay away from her. What—don't—you—get—about—that?" James said slowly, as if Albus were three years old.

Albus gritted his teeth. "It's a bit difficult to do that when she's one of my best friends—"

"Stop hanging around her!" James yelled. "Just—just go invent a potion or something stupid like that! She fancies me, not you—"

"Oh, really?" Albus snarled. "Then why isn't she your girlfriend already? Is your head too inflated to consider the fact that she might _not_ fancy you?"

James roared with laughter. His friends echoed him. "So, who else does she fancy? _You? _You, the Loser of Hogwarts, the disgrace of the family?"

Albus held onto his wand so tightly that it nearly cracked under the pressure. It was taking all his self-control not to cast the Cruciatus Curse on James. "Me. The one who saved the world twice, the one who tricked Dark Wizards, faced monsters, battled the embodiment of evil, and saved Elina's _life_—," said Albus hotly, not caring if he sounded arrogant. He was done with being the loser. He wanted some respect now.

"What's he talking about?" Richie Red spluttered, looking confused.

A look of horror passed over James's face. He forced out a chuckle. "It's all rubbish, everyone. See? He's so desperate that he's making stories up! What a _loser_..."

Albus couldn't take it anymore. He whipped his wand through the air, sending a nonverbal Bat-Bogey Hex towards James, who had been expecting the move. Quickly, he pulled up a shield, blocking the hex.

The fight had begun. Scorpius, who had been watching the scene quietly, leapt into action and began to duel Derlwin and Garret Abath at the same time, trying to ignore their taunts about him being 'Death Eater's spawn.' Meanwhile, Albus and James slowly advanced through the corridor and down the stairs, shooting spells at each other the whole time. Richie Red was moving between the two duels, helping to outnumber the two Slytherins.

Then, completely without warning, the staircase that they were on began to move. All of the boys yelped and stumbled, desperately trying to keep their balance as the stairs shifted alarmingly fast. In the split second that Albus's attention was divided, James struck. Albus teetered on the edge of the stairs, not daring to look down. He was still holding his wand, and he ran any spells that might help through his mind. But nothing came to him. In desperation, Albus lashed out and grabbed onto Derlwin's cloak. Derlwin screamed like a little girl and ran backwards. Albus held on to the cloak, using it to steady himself. But Derlwin was too clumsy; his foot sunk through the next step, and he fell forward with a sickening _crack_. It had been the trick step.

"My ankle!" Derlwin howled. "It broke!"

The stairs jerked to a stop, causing all the boys to sway where they stood. At that moment, a group of first-year Ravenclaws arrived. They stopped at the bottom of the stairs, comical expressions of shock on their faces.

"Well?" James growled at them. "Go get help! My friend is hurt! Get a professor now!"

The Ravenclaws squeaked and obediently darted away. A moment later, they returned with a leering Luke Irving.

Albus and Scorpius gulped.

"Fighting, are we, boys?" said Irving coldly, a sinister smile flitting across his features. "No doubt that the Slytherins started it. Am I correct, James?"

James nodded smugly while Albus seethed, imagining several ways in which James could die a painful death.

"Very well, very well," sighed Irving. He fixed Albus with a sadistically delighted grin. "You Slytherins never learn your lesson, do you? Thirty points from Slytherin House."

Albus's fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white and his fingernails were making indentations on his palms. What he wouldn't give to pull his fist back and smash Irving's nose until it resembled nothing but a smear...

"My ankle broke!" wailed Derlwin, struggling to his feet with the help of Richie Red and Garret Abath. "And the match is coming up in a week! How will I play?"

Scorpius's mouth fell open. "Are you _serious_? Madam Pomfrey can heal it in _three_ seconds, and you'll be playing on a _broomstick_, so you'll be _flying_, you idiot."

Irving grinned even wider. "Ten more points from Slytherin for back-talking to a Gryffindor."

Scorpius shut up, but continued to glare at Derlwin with the deepest loathing.

"Mr. Derlwin, don't you think that the Slytherins need to be taught a lesson?" asked Irving, smirking.

Albus and Scorpius were gritting their teeth so hard that the grinding noise was loud enough to be heard.

"Since you need to heal, Eric, Gryffindor's match against Slytherin will be postponed until the end of the year. Instead, Slytherin will play Ravenclaw."

"You can't _do_ that!" Albus shouted, losing control.

Irving gave one last cackle and swept off, leading the Derlwin and some of the Gryffindors to the Hospital Wing. James stayed behind to show Albus a very rude hand gesture and strutted off a moment later, looking as if Christmas had come early.

"_Unbelievable_," Albus hissed. "The whole wizarding world just can't help babying the Gryffindors for being war heroes and everything, and they can't help treating Slytherin like the scum of the earth."

* * *

Albus and Scorpius scowled as Derlwin showed off his bandaged ankle over at the Gryffindor table. Scorpius was particularly sore at the fact that Rose had swallowed up the story and was dumping sympathy on Derlwin. Lily, however, had laughed derisively when she had heard Derlwin's story and hadn't believed a word of it. Needless to say, James wasn't talking to her, but Lily did not seem to care. She merely aimed a hex at her oldest brother's back, shared a snicker with Hugo, and burst out laughing when James tried to get up and found that his pants were stuck to the seat.

Albus would have laughed, too, if he hadn't been so worried about Headmaster Triton's announcement. At the start of dinner, Triton had informed them, "Due to an accident earlier today, Gryffindor's match with Slytherin has been postponed. Ravenclaw will take Gryffindor's place. Just as a reminder, because the Colorful Competition will be starting next week, the first match of the season has been moved up. It will now take place two weeks before Halloween, which means the first match is scheduled for _this_ Saturday."

Hemley choked on his spoon and had to be nursed by Patty Parkinson, and—judging from the commotion at the Ravenclaw table—the members of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team had just had similar responses.

"_This_ Saturday?" gasped Hemley, finally managing to stop coughing. "In _three_ days?" He stood up, bodily dragged his fellow team members to their feet—Albus, Blaire Zabini, Patty Parkinson, Edward Mylens, Quentin Trollon, and Atticus Ridden—and pulled them out of the Great Hall for practice.

"GET OUT TO THE DAMN PITCH!" he bellowed the moment they were in the changing rooms. "We're going to stay out there practicing until the sun rises! GO! GO! GO!"

* * *

Early Saturday morning, Albus dragged himself to the breakfast table. His back was aching—thanks to having been hit by a Bludger twice because he had been so tired during training. Hemley had forced them to practice for five hours straight the previous night, as well as the other two days before the match. They would have gone on throughout the night, but they had been kicked off the pitch fifteen minutes before curfew. Albus, wracked with worry, hadn't gotten much sleep. He'd kept imagining scenarios in which he had fainted on the field and wasn't able to play. It seemed likely enough, since he seemed to attract enough bad luck for a lifetime—even if he had only been alive for thirteen years.

To further ruin his mood, the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall depicted stormy skies. It had probably already started drizzling, and the clouds looked volatile enough to produce a rainstorm, complete with thunder and lightning. It was not going to be a good match. Albus casted an Impervious Charm on his glasses in some attempt to prepare for the weather, but doubted that it would help much.

Fortunately, Rose had come to support him and was trying to shove some toast down his throat. "Come on, eat. You've got to eat! Have you seen the weather? It's going to kill you!"

"Forget about _him_," Scorpius muttered. "It's going to kill the rest of _us_. We're going to have to sit out there in the cold for Merlin knows how long! Catch the Snitch quickly, Al. I've got a two feet-long essay on the usage of Murdoch Roots, and I haven't even written one millimeter yet."

Rose gave Scorpius a very dirty look. "You should have thought about that, shouldn't you? Maybe if you'd finished it yesterday—"

"Oh, shut up! I'm clever enough to finish it in about ten minutes with my eyes closed," Scorpius snapped. "Why don't you go snog Derl-lose over there?"

Rose stared at Scorpius, an eyebrow raised. "What?"

"You keep fawning over him and his stupid broken ankle—which isn't broken at all, might I add! You don't care about Al at all. You're just happy that Gryffindor doesn't have to play in this weather. You're even supporting Ravenclaw!"

Rose glared at him. "Excuse me?" She shoved a silver-and-green scarf in his face. "For your information, I'm supporting _Slytherin_. And I care very much about Al! And, for goodness's sake, I know that Eric's ankle isn't broken anymore. I'm getting quite tired of all his moaning."

Scorpius was still not looking suitably embarrassed for his loss of control.

"And you know what else I'm getting quite tired of, _Malfoy_?" Rose added angrily, clenching her fists. "_You_! You've been in a bad mood all year, and you keep acting like a git for no reason! I just don't understand what's up with you anymore! You know what, maybe I _will_ snog Eric!"

She stomped off to the Gryffindor table, her orange hair flying behind her like flames gone wild.

Scorpius pulled up a sneer on his face. "Fine! What's _her_ problem? Why does she have to get all worked up for no reason? She's a hypocrite." Scorpius smashed his bowl of cereal down onto the table so hard that some milk spilled over the edge and dripped onto the tablecloth. "And I doubt she'd risk her precious popularity over in Gryffindor to support us! Have you _seen_ her, Al? She's always flirting with Derlwin and those other disgusting idiots!"

"You're jealous," Albus interrupted, smirking. "You fancy her."

Scorpius stabbed his spoon into his bowl so furiously that it nearly bent, but did not deny the statement. "Whatever. I just—I just don't like how she's ignoring us, that's all!" He stuck his nose up in the air.

"She's not ignoring us," Albus pointed out. "She came over here to sit with us—at least until you drove her away—and she's supporting Slytherin in the match." He looked at the Gryffindor table to see that Rose indeed was getting questioning looks from her popular friends regarding the silver-and-green scarf that was around her neck. She simply ignored their furious insults and continued eating, her head raised in a dignified manner.

Scorpius looked very guilty now.

"Why do you two always argue about the stupidest things?" Albus continued, determined to chew Scorpius out. "I mean, are youlooking for a fight? And telling her to go and snog Derlwin? Scorpius, are you trying to give her ideas? It would be _awful_ if she went out with him! He's kissed about fifty girls already!"

Scorpius looked wistfully into the distance. "Lucky bloke."

Albus snapped his fingers in front of Scorpius's face. "Get out of your stupid fantasy, whatever it is!"

"How did he get so many girls, anyways?" Scorpius growled, shooting Derlwin a hateful glare. "What's so great about him?"

Albus sighed, wondering why exactly Scorpius needed to be given a lesson on the social ladder of Hogwarts. It was common knowledge to every single Slytherin that they were on the very bottom. This social ladder was cruel to them, but they had still managed to memorize every level and the people found in each level. "Look, he's best mates with James. He, and that Richie Red idiot, and that thug, Garret Abath or whatever—they're on the top. They get whatever girl they want—and more than half of the girls here want them back. _We_ aren't even last resorts for the most desperate girls, because we're losers and everybody hates us—and we're not exactly material for the 'Hottest Wizard of the Month' page in the _Witch Weekly_ magazine, are we? Get it now?"

Scorpius shoved the spoon into his mouth and continued to glare at the back of Derlwin's head, giving no indication that he had heard Albus's long explanation. Albus sighed and returned to nibbling at his toast disinterestedly. His eyes wandered over to where Elina was sitting. She didn't seem to be supporting either Ravenclaw or Slytherin, and was wearing her usual red-and-gold scarf. At that moment, she had been laughing at something Lily had said. As usual, Elina's laugh made Albus feel warm all over.

The moment that James scooted over to sit next to her, however, Albus's heart plummeted to his feet. James, unlike his best mates, did _not_ fool around with girls, even though they practically threw themselves at him. He seemed to have eyes only for Elina, who really was the only girl who wasn't obsessed with impressing James. Unlike the rest of the girls, who treated James special because of his father's fame, Elina judged him fairly and did not care about his last name. Perhaps this was the reason that James had fallen for her as hard as Albus had.

As Albus watched Elina and James at the Gryffindor table, Elina turned around to give Albus a smile. James turned around as well, but only to give him a mental message: _'Stay away from her.'_

Albus's silent message went: _'_You_ stay away from her.'_

Elina didn't notice anything. She beamed at him again before turning back to her breakfast.

James held Albus's gaze for a few more seconds, though, and Albus didn't break it. They glared at each other so furiously that lightning could have passed between them. Before Albus could make a rude hand gesture and mouth a swear word at James, Hemley jerked him back to business with a bellow loud enough to make everyone jump three feet off their seats.

"OI! AL! GET OFF YOUR LAZY ARSE AND GET TO THE CHANGING ROOMS! The match is starting in a few minutes!"

Albus stood up nervously, leaving his toast half-finished. Rose got up from the Gryffindor table and ran over to hug him and wish him good luck. Before she sat back down, she gave Scorpius a pointed glare. Elina hugged him next. "Good luck. You'll be great. You always are," she whispered into his ear before skipping off. Her hair had smelled so wonderful that he was stunned for a full minute afterward, dreamily looking after her.

Once he had reacquired his senses, he didn't feel quite so tired anymore. A big grin on his face, contrasting shockingly with the angry weather, Albus walked down to the changing rooms.

"When did you get so popular with the Gryffindor princess?" asked seventh-year Edward Mylens accusingly while Albus carefully polished his broomstick handle.

Albus nearly dropped his Firebolt. "W-What?" he stammered, blushing.

Fifth-year Atticus Ridden smirked over at him, taking his head out of his locker long enough to say, "Well, she was practically hanging off of you. She fancies you."

Albus tripped and nearly collided with the wall. He hastily picked himself up and assessed his broomstick for damage, trying to hide his rapidly reddening face from view. A second later, in a small voice, he asked, "R-Really? Y-You think so?"

"It's obvious. You should've seen your git of a brother when she hugged you—he was ready to _kill_," said the sixth-year Beater, Quentin Trollon.

Albus grinned widely. Did Elina really fancy him? He found himself pulled into a fantasy in which she was his girlfriend, they held hands, kissed, and went on dates in Hogsmeade, and he also saved her from a gory death by flying her away from danger with her in his arms princess-style...

Unfortunately, Hemley seemed determined to ruin his fun. "GET YOUR STUPID HEAD OF THE CLOUDS AND STOP THINKING ABOUT GIRLS! WE'VE GOT A GAME TO PLAY!" he roared, causing Albus to jump so high that he smacked his head on the locker above.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the Slytherin Quidditch team walked out onto the pitch to deafening booing and jeering. It had already started to drizzle, and Albus had to hurriedly wipe his glasses, which were dappled with droplets of water, on the edge of his robes. After recasting the Impervious Charm, he took his place in the middle of the pitch. The Ravenclaw team walked out next, and was greeted far more positively. Both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were watching the match interestedly, wondering who would start off the Quidditch season on the best foot.

Richie Red started with calling off the names of the players. He recited the names of the Ravenclaw players without pause, but he found it necessary to add a nasty comment for each of the Slytherin players' names. "First up, Hemley! They say he had a scandalous enemies-with-benefits relationship with the old Gryffindor Captain, Olivia Wood"—Hemley turned very red and looked at his muddy shoes—"Parkinson! Goodness, that girl can't get any uglier"—Patty blinked back tears—"Zabini! She's lovely, except for the fact that she's preparing to tear our guts out for looking at her"—Blaire cracked her fists menacingly—"Mylens! They say he hasn't had a girlfriend for all seven years he's been here"—Mylens kicked the ground in humiliation—"Trollon! He looks and smells like a troll, obviously"—Trollon sniffed himself and shrugged, unoffended—"Ridden! I'm surprised he managed to find the pitch without being led there on a leash. Careful! He might attack like the rabid dog he is"—("If he keeps being the dragon dung he is, I'll rip his throat out," muttered Ridden under his breath)—"Aaand—I refuse to taint his last name—Alpus Snivellus! We know enough about him. But, just to refresh your memory, he's the resident _freak_!"

Albus froze with anger. Thankfully, Red's commentary of the Slytherin players was over. None of the Slytherins looked as if they could stand it any longer. Madam Hooch swept onto the pitch, the box of balls in one hand and her broomstick clutched in the other. The Slytherin and Ravenclaw players faced each other, sizing their opponents up. The Ravenclaw Seeker, Albus knew, was Renee Ranch, a fifth-year girl with two brown braids and too many freckles. (Though Albus had no right to talk—about the freckles, that was, not the braids.) As the school watched, Madam Hooch let out the Bludgers and Golden Snitch. She held the red Quaffle in her hand, steadying it. The fourteen players plus the referee rose off the ground, and Madam Hooch threw the Quaffle into the sky. It was on.

"Aaand... Wendelyn Pawson from Ravenclaw with the Quaffle! I repeat, Pawson with the Quaffle! She's speeding toward the Slytherin hoops... _damn_! A Bludger to the back from the idiotic Slytherin Beater, Quentin Trollon." The professors did not bother to scold Richie Red for his colorful language.

Albus started to circle the pitch. The Ravenclaw Seeker, Renee Ranch, was tailing him closely. Albus knew that was a sign of weakness and insecurity. She was depending on him to find the Snitch for her. This was the perfect opportunity to trick her.

"And Parkinson from Slytherin with the Quaffle! Damn—damn—damn! Come on, Ravenclaw, you can beat the Slytherin losers!" Red shouted into the magical microphone. "Wait a second—NO!—Snivellus has seen something!" Albus had indeed spotted a glint of gold on the far end of the pitch. He sped toward it, and Renee flew behind him, barely managing to keep up. But it turned out to be a Ravenclaw Beater's watch. Disappointed, Albus jerked to a stop and rose higher. Renee, confused, nearly ended up crashing into the stands. "And it was a ruse—or something. That slimy cheater. I don't know how a loser like him got to be Seeker—I'm surprised he can count to three..." The crowd laughed appreciatively. Albus scowled and did a lap around the pitch, scanning every nook and cranny for a hint of golden.

"Parkinson with the Quaffle—hit her with a Bludger! YES—excellent shot there from the Ravenclaw Beater! I hope it hurt, Parkinson. And now Iantha Pawson with the Quaffle. Pawson with the Quaffle again! And she scores!"

Albus sighed with the rest of the Slytherin team. "Ten to nil, Ravenclaw!" Red announced. Albus looked down at the stands to see the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Gryffindors cheering for the Ravenclaws and sending nasty glares to the Slytherins. The rest of Hogwarts was united against them. Albus spotted James and Elina sitting near the top. James leaned over and whispered something in Elina's ear. She giggled.

Albus felt the evil power blaze within him, filling him with dark strength. His eyes glinted, and a strong hatred consumed him, feeding the terrible power. He struggled with it for a moment, alarmed. Finally, he managed to push it away. Not for the first time, Albus had felt murderous, as if he would not hesitate to strike his own brother dead. Feeling dizzy and exhausted in the aftermath of the dark, deadly feeling, Albus flew as far away from the Gryffindor stands as he could. His head was spinning, and his surroundings seemed blurry. He clutched his head, which seemed to be splitting. It took a few minutes for the pain to ebb away. Relieved that it was gone and that he could return to the match, he circled the pitch again.

The match went on slowly. Iantha Pawson had scored twice more, bringing the score to thirty-zero, Ravenclaw. Just then, Edward Mylens, another Chaser, scored, bringing the score to thirty-ten, though Ravenclaw was still winning. The drizzle had let way to a full downpour, and Albus's Quidditch robes were completely soaked. Then, without warning, a boom of thunder shook the sky. The clouds ripped open violently, letting loose the rain that they held captive. The water rained down like a vertical flood, drenching everyone and everything in the pitch.

"Bloody hell! Where did all that rain come from?" yelled Red, his voice muffled from the noise of the water.

Albus gritted his teeth against the buffeting gale, trying in vain to see. He seized his wand from his the waistband of his Quidditch robes and muttered, "_Impervius" _for the third time. It didn't seem to be helping clear his glasses that much. The spell was relatively useless now—he ought to invent a better version.

How was he supposed to find the Snitch now? Perhaps the match would be postponed. It was too difficult for the players to see what was going on, let alone for Red to commentate. Even so, the match continued. If Albus squinted hard enough at the stands, he could see that most people were huddled under magically enlarged umbrellas. He flew through the rain, trying not to get deafened by the thunder or struck by the lightning. Red wasn't even commentating anymore. Nobody seemed to know what was going on. They all seemed to be waiting for Triton to cancel and reschedule the match for a less rainy day, but he didn't. Albus searched for the Snitch in desperation, wanting to end the game and go inside.

Then, without warning, everything went absolutely silent. The rain continued on, making no noise. The wind howled silently. Albus opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. An enormous Silencing Charm had been put on the pitch. Then it began to shake. The very ground itself shifted. Albus would have screamed, but he could not. The silence continued unbearably, choking him. What was happening? A split second later, he had his answer. The ground uprooted and was thrown away as if something slumbered within it. Albus let out a silent gasp and stumbled away on his broom, unable to believe his eyes. From the ruined ground came muddy figures, their glowing eyes the only beacons in the darkness.

_Earth Soldiers. Terraxes. _

What were they doing here? _To come for me, _he realized. People began to hurry down the stands and tried to escape the pitch, but were met with invisible barriers, preventing their escape. The professors ran down the stands and onto the pitch and started firing silent spells at the Terraxes, but Albus knew that it wouldn't work. The Terraxes reformed every time they were hit with a Blasting Curse, and nothing could hurt them for long. The pitch was still completely silent, and none of them could make a noise, no matter how much they wanted to. The noiseless battle continued, causing the pitch to shake so hard that it felt like the worst of the worst earthquakes.

Albus knew what he had to do. Nothing could destroy the Terraxes—nothing except for him. He took his wand out and collected all his energy. The symbols on the wood of his wand lit up and shone bright green. He aimed at the Terraxes, and they all slowly turned towards him. A jet of emerald green fire shot out of the tip of his wand and zoomed at one of the Terraxes. The moment it made contact, the Terrax disintegrated into ashes, leaving one less to deal with.

But it wasn't over. The signal of the death of one of their own seemed to have ignited a new determination in the Terraxes, and they began to combine into one. Each and every one of the soldiers merged together, becoming a wall. It rose higher and higher as Albus watched. The wall began to move forward like an earthen wave, destroying the stands and tearing the ground into shreds. He stayed in place, frozen. He could do nothing but stare as the wave came closer and closer, obliterating everything in its path.

Then the situation clunked to place in his mind. Albus sped away from the wave, pushing his Firebolt faster and faster. That _thing_—whatever it was—was after _him_.

The wave quickly overtook him. It swallowed him as if he were a meal. Darkness pressed in on him, and he knew that he was inside the wave. It stretched out on either side of him as if it were a cave. Albus gripped his broom tightly and kept flying, trying to get out. He put all his strength into the Firebolt, begging it, pleading it to fly like it had never flown before. With a silent splatter, Albus burst from the wall, drenched in mud and rain.

Suddenly, the spell broke. Noise returned in a split second, and the pitch seemed to rip apart from the screams that were finally heard. Albus was screaming, too, but he hadn't noticed it before. The wave of mud was still in hot pursuit of him. Then he saw it: a lone figure in the middle of the pitch. It was wearing a black cloak, and its face was shielded from view. If Albus looked closer, he could see a dark, spiked crown on the figure's head. The figure raised a hand, and the wave copied its movements.

Albus zoomed forward, barely paying attention to the wave. His eyes were locked only on the figure, and with a yell of fury, he dove for it. The figure's hood blew away in the wind. Beneath it was the sunken face of a man, and golden eyes shone from the folds of skin. Albus noticed, too late, that the wave was upon him at last. This time, it was not to be denied.

The figure's hand made a movement—a clenched fist. The wave contorted, yawning over Albus like a terrible mouth. Albus locked eyes with the figure and flew closer, not giving up. He was so close...

The wave closed over him, only leaving a crack of light. The crack was growing smaller with every second. Albus knew that he had to get out. He launched himself off his Firebolt and through the crack, barely clearing it. The wave closed, trapping the broomstick inside of it.

Albus was out.

But he was falling.

The figure was right below him, and an evil grin split its face. It narrowed its golden eyes, which shone in the darkness. With one last smirk, the figure sunk into the ground, taking its crown with it. The wave stopped moving and splattered to the ground, now nothing more than a fresh layer of dirt. Albus's fingers brushed the air where the figure had been a second before, scrabbling desperately to get ahold of something—anything at all—

Then he slammed into the ground. Every bone in his body seemed to shatter on impact, and pain like nothing he had ever known before consumed him.

* * *

Albus could barely breathe. He felt as if a full-grown whale was lying on top of him, suffocating him. Groaning, he opened his eyes. He looked at his arm to see that it was bandaged. In fact, _everything_ was bandaged. He didn't feel much pain, which was strange. Perhaps Madam Pomfrey had put a spell on him. Albus tried to move something, but found that he could not. He tried to open his mouth to say something, but it would not move. Even his teeth seemed to be bandaged.

Fortunately, he did not have to say anything. At that moment, Madam Pomfrey and a crowd of Healers appeared and began to fuss over him.

"Call the boy's parents," someone ordered.

A plump Healer asked, "How are you feeling? Can you talk?"

Albus said nothing.

"Oh, dear. It'll take a few more days. It's a miracle you survived, you know. Nearly every bone in your body broke. You should have died—the shock of the pain should have killed you almost immediately. It took all our magic to save you, and we didn't think even that'd be enough..."

Albus closed his eyes, wanting to slip away from reality. He could hear the Healers—who had evidently come from St. Mungo's to help—bustling around and casting spells on him. He vaguely remembered his parents, Lily, and even James (though he had probably been forced) coming to visit, but they were shooed out before long. As they tended to him, the Healers whispered among themselves, discussing his accident.

"Definitely shouldn't have survived..."

"There's something strange about that boy..."

"He escaped death..."

Albus slipped in and out of consciousness, only catching snippets of conversation. Finally, feeling seemed to return to him, and he could move his limbs. The next time he opened his eyes, it was pitch black. He raised his head and looked around—

And saw a shadowy figure near his bead. He let out a hoarse squeak, his heart pounding.

"Shut up, boy. It's only me, Professor Sapienta."

"Wha-what are y-you d-doing here?" Albus asked shakily, barely in control of his voice.

"I need to talk to you. When you're recovered, come to my office. There's something very important that I have to tell you."

There was utter silence. Albus heard the footsteps receding, and knew that Athena Sapienta had gone.

* * *

Three days later, Albus had nearly reacquired the use of all his limbs. He wasn't strong enough to attend classes, so Scorpius and Rose brought him all his assignments and told him what was going on. Apparently, Renee Ranch had caught the Snitch afterwards, but it really hadn't been a fair match. Even so, Albus felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He had a lost a match for the first time, and Slytherin was now losing for the Quidditch Cup.

Even worse, he had been informed that the Firebolt was missing and probably destroyed—the very same resilient Firebolt that his father had owned for so many years. Even though it had been lost in the war, it had turned up in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office as a broomstick that some old Muggle woman had found lying in the trees near her house. It had been largely undamaged, and was still one of the fastest brooms in the world, as well as a classic. It was supposed to have been immortal, but it was gone now. Albus wasn't sure what he was going to do about Quidditch now that he didn't have a broom. He supposed that he could have gotten a Lightningbolt III, but he didn't want it. He wanted his Firebolt back. It had been so special to him because it had belonged to his father, and their connection had strengthened because of it. Nothing could replace something as priceless as that.

Scorpius and Rose also told him that the rest of the school was shell-shocked about the attack. Several parents had sent angry letters to the Headmaster, demanding to know what had happened, though no one really seemed to know.

_It must have been Rayan Lyserian_, thought Albus, recalling the distinctive golden eyes he had seen on the man on the pitch. Rayan Lyserian, the assassin, was after him. He had turned up on the field, but had gone unnoticed in the darkness and chaos. He had tried to kill Albus in the most dramatic way possible, but Albus, through some lucky twist of fate, had managed to survive.

And that meant that Rayan was going to try again.

A second later, Albus felt like he had been slapped awake from a foggy, uncertain dream. The _train_. The Terraxes. Rayan Lyserian had sent the Terraxes on the train! He was controlling them and the earth, like he had at the Quidditch match! The Terraxes were probably under his orders. He had awoken them from their slumber underneath the surface. _Rayan Lyserian_ was behind it, not Cryptan as Albus had previously thought. The assassin that was after Albus was even more powerful—with the powers of the earth on his side—than Albus had feared.

"Uncle Harry and some other people from the Ministry are coming to see you," said Rose out of nowhere, jerking Albus out of his troubling thoughts. "They want to know exactly what happened. I think they'll come tonight."

"When are you going to get out of here?" whined Scorpius. "I've only got Nesbitt the Witless for company."

Albus shrugged. "Tomorrow, I think."

After that, Rose and Scorpius left for dinner. Albus stayed in his bed, feeling restless. He had barely moved around ever since he had woken up, and he felt energetic enough to run around the grounds twice. Trying to find something to do with his hands, he started to fiddle around with his glasses. He stopped, however, when the door to the Hospital Wing swung open and Elina entered. He hadn't even had enough time to properly shove his glasses back on before she launched herself at him. "I tried to find time to see you, but I couldn't until now! I'm sorry, Al!" She tightened her arms around him and pulled him closer.

_Getting hugs from her feels really nice. Really, really nice. Amazing, even, _thought Albus, hugging her back. At that very moment, he realized that she was practically on his bed, and his face heated up rapidly. Perhaps she had realized this as well, because she drew away, her cheeks pink.

"I was terrified," she whispered, pulling a chair up to his bedside and sitting down in it. "What happened there?"

"I'm still thinking about that," muttered Albus.

Elina bit her lip. "Remember Diagon Alley this summer? I was with you, remember?"

Albus wasn't likely to forget in a hurry. He nodded.

"Well, you said something about that assassin being after you. After that, your parents dropped me back off at the Leaky Cauldron, so I didn't hear the whole story. What did you mean by that? Is that assassin—Rayan Lyserian, or whatever his name is—really after you?"

Albus was impressed that she had figured this out, considering that it wasn't public knowledge.

"I mean, I was puzzling over it," Elina continued, talking very fast. "I just kept wondering why that wave of mud went at you and no one else—though it could've hurt someone who got in the way—and I thought, maybe, that something else was after you. And then I thought of this assassin, and—"

"You think that it's the assassin that did that at the Quidditch match," Albus finished her sentence for her. "I've figured that out a moment ago, too. I think he could be controlling the ground, or something."

Elina paled. "I'm really worried. W-Why would an assassin be after you?" she said, her voice shaking.

_Because I stuck my nose into trouble, and now all the enemies that I've surely made have come back to kill me, _thought Albus dryly. _And worse, they can control the earth and send giant mud waves after me._ Out loud he said, "I-I guess stuff I've d-done made some people pretty mad."

"The stuff you did in first year and second year?" Elina asked in a hushed voice.

"Yeah—_wait a moment_! How do you know about what I did in first year? You weren't involved like you were in second year. Who told you about Hoffman and the Orb and everything?" asked Albus.

"Rose," said Elina. "She kind of blurted it out at the end of last term. It was just before we were getting on the trains to leave. I was really shocked that you'd done something amazing in first year, too. I promised not to tell anyone, but I wish I could. You deserve to be known for that. You were really brave."

Albus blushed at her praise and studied his fingers as if they were the most fascinating appendages he had seen in the entire world. Elina had called him _brave_!

"Anyways, I have something for you," said Elina. She took out a scroll from her pocket and held it out for him to see. "Professor Sapienta gave this to me and told me to pass it on to you when I got the chance. She told me not to read it, so I don't know what her message is."

Albus took it, not very surprised. Sapienta had told him a few nights ago that he had to see her. Perhaps she was elaborating more on the reason in her letter.

Elina peered over Albus's shoulder at his watch and said, "It's time for dinner. I guess I'd better go. Madam Pomfrey'll be coming with food for you any time now, I think."

"Ugh. Don't remind me about that awful potion that she makes me take along with meals. It ruins the taste of everything I eat afterwards!" Albus groaned, burying his head in his arms.

Elina giggled, holding her hand to her mouth. "Well, good luck with swallowing that down. I pity you." She paused for a second, and then did something completely unexpected. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Instead of pulling away at once, her lips lingered on his cheek for a few long seconds before she finally drew away. She waved and left the Hospital Wing, her cheeks tinged with color.

Albus sat there, utterly numb, his head spinning and his heart performing cartwheels and pirouettes and bizarre tap-dancing, his thoughts being processed at a sluggish rate—if he was thinking at all, that was.

A few minutes of pure shock later, he realized where he was and remembered Sapienta's note. He unrolled it and scanned it. As he did, his expression changed to one of interest.

_Potter—_

_I know for a fact that some members of the Ministry are coming to see you tonight. Do not tell them about this note. I think I know what happened at the Quidditch match. Tomorrow at five o'clock, after classes, come to see me in my office. It will be worth your time._

And beneath the letter, in a messy signature, was the full name: _Athena Hecate Sapienta._

Albus rolled up the letter again and stuck it in his pocket. At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled over with a tray of food for him. Albus, irritated, ended up pouring his the potion medicine into the nearest flowerpot (which caused the flowers to dry up), and when Madam Pomfrey found out what he had done, she shouted at him for twenty minutes, lecturing him on the importance of following his prescription. Albus rolled his eyes the whole time.

Fortunately, Madam Pomfrey left him alone after shoving the medicine up his nose. Albus was so bored that he half-wished that someone would attack him again. He leaned his head back on his pillow and stared up at the ceiling, willing time to move faster. Tomorrow, he'd be able to leave. There were less than twenty-four hours to go now. To pass the remaining time, he imagined how nice Elina's long, smooth hair would feel against his fingers, how nice her soft, pink lips would feel on his—

The door to the Hospital Wing banged open, cruelly jerking Albus out of this wonderful fantasy (which would have gotten quite inappropriate if his thirteen-year-old boy's mind had been allowed to continue). In came a whole crowd of people, lead by his father. At once, Albus was overwhelmed and tried to sink into his bed. Madam Pomfrey came out of her room and started shouting at everybody. "Only six visitors!" she bellowed, waving her fist threateningly in front of her to ward them off.

"Fine," said Harry respectfully. "Ron, Ewan, Edgeworth, Reyna, Kingsley—you can all stay."

"What about me?" squeaked a very round woman wearing all blue, reminding Albus forcefully of a blueberry. "I need to interview the boy for my article. He's news! News to make me rich!"

"Get out," said Harry testily, his patience wearing thin.

The Blueberry Woman tried to protest, but after seeing the murderous look in Madam Pomfrey eyes as she growled, "I'm only allowing _six_ visitors! That's a stretch already!" the Blueberry Woman scurried away as fast as her fat legs could carry her.

Slightly apologetic, Harry turned to his son. "How are you today, Al? Madam Pomfrey says you'll be released tomorrow."

Madam Pomfrey sniffed as if she did not agree and would rather have kept him for the rest of eternity.

Albus, however, wasn't even paying attention to his father's words. His attention was instead focused on his father's companions. One of them, of course, was Uncle Ron. The other three were newer, though. One, Albus recognized as Tutterskope—whose first name was evidently 'Ewan,' which Harry had just addressed him as—the other, he knew, was Drake Edgeworth, another, he realized, was the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and the last was Reyna Lyserian. Edgeworth was staring at him suspiciously, his hazel eyes glittering with pure loathing. Kingsley looked very worried, but pulled up a weak smile for Albus's benefit. Reyna Lyserian looked intrigued and was watching him interestedly. Tutterskope, on the other hand, simply looked bored.

Albus looked towards his father, mutely inquiring, '_Why the heck did you bring these people here?'_

Harry seemed to have understood the silent question and opened his mouth to answer, but Edgeworth interrupted and began to say, in an annoyingly self-important voice, "The accident that took place on the Quidditch pitch a few days ago—"

"It wasn't an accident," Albus corrected, focusing his currently ice-cold green eyes on Edgeworth, sending him a silent challenge.

Edgeworth's look of hatred became more intense. He now seriously seemed to want to throttle Albus. Albus smirked, staring unflinchingly at Edgeworth. Edgeworth took a deep breath to calm himself, but evidently failed. He began, "Mr. Potter—"

"Mr. Potter?" Albus raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking to me or my dad? I thought you say 'Mr.' to somebody who you respect. And you don't respect me. So, cut all the pleasantries, because I'm not going to waste my time returning them."

His father and uncle looked as if they were trying to keep a straight face, but a vein was bulging in Edgeworth's forehead. "Very well," he spat. "_Potter_."

"You're saying it as if you have a really dirty taste in your mouth. Of course, I'm not really insulted. Because, when_ I_ address you, I'll call you _Edge Worth Nothing_." Albus was very much enjoying this.

"Watch who you're talking to," snapped Edgeworth. He gave Harry a very nasty look and said, "No disrespect meant, Mr. Potter, but you could stand to teach your son some more manners."

Harry pretended to look embarrassed and gave Albus a stern look that did not seem very stern at all. "I'll have a talk with him," he said, trying his hardest not to smile.

Edgeworth's mood seemed to have worsened in these few seconds.

"Albus—can I call you 'Al?'—you ought to listen to him. We've got some very important things to say," said Reyna Lyserian sweetly, boring her golden eyes into his. "Though, I must admit, one must admire your boldness to talk back to one of the most important people in the Ministry of Magic. How interesting this is. I'd have thought you to be a modest, shy, and stuttering little boy among your peers. Yet, when you are faced with a powerful member of the Ministry, you have no trouble insulting him. I see this as _rebellious_. Very interesting indeed."

Albus stared at her. Her words should have been criticizing, but she only seemed to be observing something. In fact, she seemed rather impressed.

"Thank you, Reyna," said Edgeworth, evidently back to business, his voice crisp. "Yes. Let's get back to the subject at hand. The—er—_issue_ that we had on the Quidditch pitch..."

Albus, wanting to annoy Edgeworth some more, opened his mouth, but shut it after a quick warning look from his father.

"...was very unexpected. In fact, we've got no idea how it happened. The protective enchantments around Hogwarts were set up, and any outsiders should not have been allowed in. Whoever attacked the pitch that day came from within the castle or its grounds. It's either that or the protective enchantments are flawed, and as they have been functioning perfectly for many, many years, I don't think that's the case."

"R-Rayan Lyserian attacked me," said Albus, his voice shaking slightly. "I know he did. There was a figure. His eyes were really golden. He looked the same as he did when he attacked me in Diagon Alley, but this time, he was wearing a crown..." Albus didn't know what to make of it. "He must have tried to kill me and tried to make it sort of look like an accident—but that's stupid! There's no way anyone could have believed that was an accident! And those Terraxes—where did they come from?"

"Terraxes? Boy, how did you know they were Earth Soldiers?" growled Edgeworth. "Terraxes haven't been seen for a thousand years! They were supposed to be a myth! It took ages for our best researches to find out what those creatures were, and we could barely find any information!"

"I-I know some things," said Albus, his voice shaking slightly. He decided that it was time to change the subject. "Anyways, I've been thinking, and I'm pretty sure that Rayan Lyserian's in control of the Terraxes and probably the ground, too. When I saw him on the pitch, the wave obeyed his hand motions. He sunk into the ground after that, and I—er, you know—_fell_."

"I can't understand how he managed to get past the protective enchantments," said Uncle Ron.

"Maybe he burrowed under the ground," suggested Albus's father. A moment later, he shook his head. "No... the protection should extend even deep underneath."

Reyna Lyserian laughed. Everyone stared at her. "Of course, I'm sure nobody believes that he came from outside. He must be hiding somewhere on the grounds. Maybe even _under the ground_." She stressed the last three words significantly.

This made a lot of sense. _Too_ much sense, actually. Albus glared at her suspiciously. "How do you know so much? You're his sister! You might have tried to help him!"

Reyna Lyserian narrowed her eyes. "I'm his sister, you say? I'm his _half_-sister. Please get your facts right. Secondly, would _you_ help _your_ brother, simply because you have similar blood? No. In fact, everything that I observed during my visit to Hogwarts a few weeks ago suggests that you've been fighting _against_ him. If it is perfectly fine for you to hate yours, why is it suddenly strange to hate mine?"

Albus blushed, embarrassed. Lyserian made a good point. Blood meant nothing in the end. _Right?_ He bit his lip uncertainly.

"Al, pay close attention to me," said Harry, calling his son's attention back to him. "You've got to be very careful. Keep your nose out of trouble."

Albus thought his father was being rather hypocritical, but respectfully kept quiet on the matter.

"A dangerous assassin is after you, and he's very close by. He's also got powers of the ground, to call them that. You're in a lot of danger. Promise me you won't go looking for him! Promise me, when you leave the castle, you won't ever travel alone! Promise it right now!"

Albus nodded right away, alarmed that his father's voice was rising with every syllable.

"I'm going to dig into this with the Aurors," Harry continued. "Hopefully, we'll be able to track him down and find out exactly how he's getting to you. You may see Aurors at the school, but they won't bother you. They'll only keep an eye on you from far away—"

"The parents and children at the school deserve to know that an assassin is after one of the students. This is a dangerous man, and who knows how many people he'll kill to get to the boy? I repeat, the students need to know that they are in danger," said Edgeworth.

Albus blanched. Tell the students that he was once more endangering them? Last year, they had tried to kick him out of the school! If they found out about this, he'd be tortured endlessly...

Harry didn't look happy about this. He was clearly thinking the same thing. However, Edgeworth's reasoning won. It was true that the students and their parents had a right to know, and not even Harry Potter could take that right away. He agreed with a short nod of his head.

"I'll inform Triton of the situation," said Kingsley in his deep, calming voice. "He'll let the students know tonight."

"Is there any way that we can keep it anonymous? Couldn't we just say that Rayan Lyserian is after one of the students, but not mention which one it is?" said Harry, worriedly looking at an ashen-faced Albus.

Edgeworth smiled nastily. "Oh, no. The friends of this boy will be just in much danger as him. The students have a right to know who exactly among their number is wanted by an assassin."

Albus gritted his teeth. Edgeworth was enjoying this. He was retaliating to Albus's earlier insults. Edgeworth was far more influential, and was basking in the fact that he could easily destroy Albus's social life with a snap of his fingers.

Harry sighed and gave Albus an apologetic look. After discussing a few more things in hushed tones, the adults made to leave the room. Harry stopped at the door and said, "I suggest you don't go to Hogsmeade, Al."

"No way!" Albus wailed. "Dad! You can't take everything away! I've been looking forward to go to Hogsmeade for years!"

Harry looked torn. "All right. But you'll be flanked by Aurors whenever you go, especially by Ewan Tutterskope. He's in charge of you, basically. If the Aurors that are stationed in Hogwarts order you to do something, like stay inside at night, then you must obey them. This is for your life."

Albus nodded solemnly.

Harry gave his son a bracing smile. "Look, it won't be all bad. The Colorful Competition's going to begin this Saturday. Triton was going to announce it tonight, but I suppose it'll have to be told to the students with the bad news. Look, Al, don't pay attention to what others say."

"I don't, not really," Albus mumbled. "They all hate me, and I'm used to it." He laughed mirthlessly.

Harry pulled Albus into a tight hug, nearly cracking his ribs again. "I was terrified that I was going to lose you," he whispered. "Al, why do you have to do everything that I told you _not_ to do?"

Albus felt bile rise up his throat, suddenly remembering something. "I-I'm sorry I broke the Firebolt! I'm so sorry! I-I know it m-meant a lot to you—"

"_You_ mean much more to me, Al."

Two generations, father and son, stared at each other with identical emerald green eyes.


	8. The Colorful Competition

**-Chapter Eight-**

**The Colorful Competition**

Albus had predicted, after Headmaster Triton had announced that Albus was being chased by a bloodthirsty assassin and was putting Hogwarts in danger, that what little remained of his social life would go down the drain.

He was right.

Everyone was giving him hostile glares, even the Slytherins. He was certain that he would have to give up his throne—again. Fortunately, Rose and Scorpius were both fiercely defending him from anyone who lashed out at him. Albus appreciated it, but wished that they would leave him to fight his own battles. It was because of him that they were suffering as well. Rose wasn't being spoken to by her popular Gryffindor friends, and Scorpius wasn't all that respected by the other Slytherins.

Aurors were now patrolling the castle and its grounds, and Albus could feel their eyes on him whenever he was in the hallways. Ewan Tutterskope didn't seem to like him very much, and it was clear that he didn't think a Slytherin was worth his attention, whether Albus was the son of Harry Potter or not. He wasn't looking forward to having to go to Hogsmeade with Tutterskope tailing him, but he supposed it couldn't be helped. He didn't want to be taken unawares by Rayan Lyserian again.

As Albus attended his classes the next day, trying to ignore the insults and glares, he thought about the assassin that was after his life. Rayan Lyserian had tried to kill him three times now. While Professor Patil passed around mice to turn to ice during Transfiguration, Albus clenched his fists under his desk. He was furious. Rayan Lyserian was trying to kill him, and he had the power of the ground on his side. Albus was going to fight back.

He was going to strike his enemy dead first.

It was only at five minutes past five o'clock that Albus remembered that he had a meeting with Sapienta according to the note that Elina had given him in the Hospital Wing. Worried that he was late, he sprinted back to Sapienta's office. He paused outside, braced himself, and knocked. The door swung open of its own accord. Cautiously, he walked in. He was immediately overcome with scents of all kinds. The walls of the room were lined with different sized and colored cauldrons that were emitting smoke of all kinds. A great cabinet filled with ingredients touched the ceiling.

Albus's breath was taken away. To have a room like this had always been his dream.

"Do you like it?" asked a voice from within the fog. A woman with long, shining dark blond hair strolled out of the smoke.

"Y-Yes," Albus whispered, afraid to speak too loudly lest he disturb the divine atmosphere of the room.

"Come here for a moment, Potter," Sapienta said. She led him to a row of cauldrons. "Can you tell me what this is?" She was pointing to a large cauldron. The potion inside it had a mother-of-pearl sheen, and smoke was rising in spirals above it.

"Amortentia. The most powerful Love Potion in the world," said Albus, without hesitation. "It has a different aroma for everyone."

"Very well done. What do you smell?" asked Sapienta.

Albus briefly closed his eyes, then inhaled. "Fresh buttered toast, a new cauldron"—he blushed—"cinnamon and vanilla perfume..."

Sapienta cracked a small smile. She moved a few steps and stood in front of the next cauldron. "Tell me what this is, then."

Albus looked into the cauldron. The potion was a misty gray and seemed to ripple of its own accord. "The Weakness Potion. It weakens the drinker, both physically and mentally. By the color, I expect it's a very powerful version of that potion," said Albus, without missing a beat.

Sapienta nodded, looking impressed. "And this?" she asked, pointing the next cauldron.

The potion inside was yellow and bubbling. Albus thought for a moment, running all the possibilities through his mind. "The Volubilis Potion. It changes the tone and pitch of the drinker's voice."

"And tell me the ingredients."

Albus raised an eyebrow in surprise. Did she really expect him to do this? Nevertheless, he examined the potion again, trying to remember the exact properties. Finally, he managed to figure it out. "Er—honeywater, mint sprigs, a stewed Mandrake, and syrup of Hellebore."

Sapienta looked shocked. "Amazing, Potter. Simply amazing."

"Er—thanks," said Albus. He was still on his guard. His Potions professor in first year, Caspar Hoffman, had complimented him and had turned out to be a traitor.

"Do the next one now," Sapienta urged, her dark green eyes alight with eagerness.

Albus continued, stopping at every cauldron and telling her what each potion did. Despite how exhausted his mind was from thinking so hard, he enjoyed the work. He loved Potions. To his surprise, however, the potions seemed to be getting more sinister as he moved down. Albus and Sapienta went over potions that could burn your body from the inside, and still others that could shut down the functions of all your organs with one sip.

But the last potion horrified Albus the most. It was emerald-green—the exact shade of Albus's eyes—and glowed brightly. Albus felt ill simply looking at it.

"And this last one?" asked Sapienta gently.

"I-I don't know that much about Dark Potions like this," Albus lied. He knew, and he was disgusted with himself for knowing.

"Tell me," Sapienta ordered, fixing him with a glare.

"I-It's the Drink of Despair," Albus said quickly, as if saying it faster would make it easier. "It was invented by Lord Voldemort, I think. It causes delirium, extreme thirst, and forces the drinker to relive his or her worst memories. It can't be Transfigured, scooped up, vanished, or touched in any way—except for drinking."

Albus looked down at the ground, his eyes narrowed and his fists clenched. He was angry—no, absolutely _furious_—with Sapienta.

"I know you're wondering how and why I have made such a potion," said Sapienta. "I thought it would be an exciting challenge—that's all. And I don't even think I made it properly. It would take an impossibly gifted Potion Master to make it perfectly. It would take someone like _you_..."

"W-What d-do you want?" Albus stammered, backing away.

"Sit down," Sapienta said, taking a seat behind her desk, which was in the far corner of the room. "I need to tell you what I called you in for. I think I know exactly what caused the attacks on the train and Quidditch pitch."

Albus considered simply fleeing, but his curiosity won, and he sat down in the chair in front of her. "I know that it was Rayan Lyserian. I saw him," he said coldly. "So, if you called me here to tell me that, you can save your breath."

"That's not what I have to say at all," said Sapienta, her voice equally icy. "That's common knowledge to everyone now, especially the school. How have they been treating you?"

Albus turned red with embarrassment and said nothing.

Sapienta smirked, looking viciously satisfied that she had struck a nerve. Albus immediately disliked her even more. He glared at her, and she stared back innocently. He finally looked away, and she decided it was time to return to business. "Let's get talking," she said briskly. "Rayan Lyserian appears to have full control over the earth, the ground—am I correct?"

Albus nodded mutely, wondering what exactly what she was getting at.

"Well, I know how he _acquired_ that power. Wizards aren't supposed to be able to do such things with the ground—not with that much ease, anyways. Terraxes have been docile for one thousand years, but Rayan appears to have awoken them without too much trouble. 'How is this?' I thought to myself. I did some digging, and found out about a very old legend: the legend of the Earth King.

"The Earth King was an accident—a failed experiment. This is what the stories say. Supposedly, a wizard a long time ago meddled too much with magic. He paid with his mortal life. He was cursed—by himself, no less—to become half-man and half-mud. He hated this curse. He tried to get rid of it in every way possible. But he could never die, because he would always reform. He could not be killed—though he tried to destroy himself, many times. Finally, he'd had enough. He spent many days underground to find a way to free himself from the curse."

Albus had listened to all of this with rapt attention. When Sapienta paused to take a breath, he asked, with some trepidation, "D-Did he manage to free himself?"

"No. Instead, he did another experiment, which caused a most peculiar reaction. A very powerful magical charm caused the power of eternal life inside of him to instead morph into something else. In addition to immortality, he had control of the earth itself. The nonhuman part of him—the earthen part—had supreme control over anything and everything that was from the earth. Plants, dirt, rocks..."

"Is he still alive?" Albus interrupted.

"What do you think, boy?" Sapienta grumbled.

"He is. B-But he hasn't bothered the wizarding world before! Why not? He's immortal and everything, so it would have been easy...," said Albus, trailing off.

"Exactly. The Earth King is alive but slumbering. His new power caused him to despair. He cursed himself one last time and fell into an eternal sleep. He could not—and would not—wake up," Sapienta explained.

Albus had caught on to what Sapienta was trying to say. "But Rayan Lyserian's using his powers. He's obviously not the Earth King, but he must have stolen the Earth King's power!" he said.

"Exactly on the mark," said Sapienta, looking impressed that he had figured this out before she'd had to explain it.

"Someone's employed Lyserian and sent him after me." Albus was muttering to himself now, wild theories and schemes spinning into his thoughts. "I wonder if they thought I'd be hard to kill and thought about getting an edge. They must have gotten ahold of the Earth King's power and transferred it to Rayan Lyserian. Then they made him come after me. He attacked me in Diagon Alley first, but I—" Albus suddenly stopped talking, very conscious that Sapienta was listening to him with rapt attention.

"You warded him off, didn't you?" she prompted, smiling slyly. "How? By setting your powers on him, I expect."

Albus blanched. He considered just telling her about his powers—she already guessed, after all—but he didn't trust her.

"Look, Potter, I know that you're a freak," said Sapienta, sounding irritated. "I saw you very clearly. Stop thinking that you have any choice in telling me or not. I can help you, Potter. Just _let_ me."

Albus sighed. He supposed that she had him backed into a corner now. "All right. He attacked me in Diagon Alley. I glowed green and blasted him away. On the train... you know what happened. But on the Quidditch pitch, I couldn't do anything really. That was when he nearly killed me. But I can't help but think that he doesn't _want _to kill me."

"Why not?" asked Sapienta, shocked at Albus's sudden revelation. "He's an _assassin_. He kills. Of course he's after you to kill you."

"It was something he said," mumbled Albus. "He said that I passed the first test, and that my score was high. I mean, if he really wanted to kill me, he would have kept trying. He wouldn't have just run away. I think he's doing something else..."

Sapienta bit her lip and fixed him with a scorching look, one of her perfect eyebrows cocked skeptically. "That's ridiculous," she said, her tone scathing. "It makes no sense. He's come to kill you, simple as that. You're in danger—stop trying to delude yourself by thinking any different."

"Fine! I wasn't asking for your opinion!" Albus snarled. "Look, thanks for telling me this. Can I please go now?"

"Very well," agreed Sapienta. "If anything else happens, please inform me as soon as possible."

Albus turned his back on her, a sneer crossing his face. _That's really likely, _he thought sarcastically. He was on his own, and his talk with Sapienta had done nothing but confirm that.

* * *

To Albus's relief, everyone soon forgot about the Assassin Issue. They were far too caught up in the news of the approaching Colorful Competition to care bother about the official Loser of Hogwarts, no matter how much of a freak he was. The choosing of the teams was scheduled to be that Saturday, and excited whispers filled the hallways, the students betting on what the teams would be called and which students would be on the same team. Albus was hoping that he'd be on the same time as either Rose or Scorpius, but he knew it was too much to hope for. In addition to this, he found himself wishing that he would _not_ get put on the same team as James. The two brothers were incapable of working together, and putting them on the same team would be a death sentence for _everyone_ on that team.

When Albus walked into the Great Hall on Saturday morning, his ears were bombarded with loud noise. Everyone was scuttling from table to table, unable to wait for the choosing of the teams after breakfast. Albus made a beeline for the Slytherin table, which seemed to be isolated from the rest. That was not to say that the Slytherins weren't equally as excited for the Competition as the other Houses, though. Matthew Flint was collecting money for bets, and Gerald Erwett kept hopping around and bothering everyone about who they wanted to be on a team with. But when Albus arrived at the table, the air turned colder.

Albus sat down without speaking, his face set into a scowl. He was used to relying on the Slytherins to respect and be in awe of him for being the hero that had taught them to stand up for themselves, but they only seemed to resent him now for putting them into danger. Scorpius, who looked too eager for his own good, sat down next to him. "They'd better hurry up," he growled, stabbing at a piece of toast. "I swear, if I'm on the same team as Derlwin, I'm going to throttle somebody..."

Albus trained his attention on the staff table, and instantly received a shock. Triton was staring straight at him. Albus stared back into Triton's dark eyes for a moment before Triton turned away to talk to Irving. Albus watched the Headmaster for a few more seconds, wondering why Triton had been looking at him. Triton hadn't really given him a second look before.

Still puzzled, Albus turned piled several slices of toast on his plate and started on them. Scorpius was still talking, evidently trying to take Albus's mind off the angry hisses that were directed towards him from the rest of the school. "Next Thursday's Halloween, you know," he was saying. "And the weekend after the next is the Hogsmeade weekend."

Albus sighed in response. He had been looking forward to going to Hogsmeade, but having an assassin after him and Aurors having to be his shield had ruined his excitement. Twenty minutes later, he, Rose, and Scorpius left the Great Hall. They went to the library to get an early start on their essays, but Rose and Scorpius weren't getting much studying done.

"Glad to see you've stopped talking to Derlwin," said Scorpius approvingly.

Rose gave him a nasty look. "It's not my fault he's being an idiot."

"So, you've chosen us over him and his stupid friends," said Scorpius triumphantly.

Rose held her head up in a dignified manner. "Of course. What did you take me for? You must have known that I didn't just hang out with you to spy on you for the Gryffindors."

Scorpius sat back in his chair, still smirking. "You were always on our side. I_ never_ doubted it."

Albus snorted derisively. Scorpius spent several minutes each day insulting Rose about how she seemed to only care about her Gryffindor friends.

Rose only sighed and started to answer the first question on their Transfiguration worksheet. For some strange reason, Scorpius scooted closer to her and peered over her shoulder at the worksheet. "You got the second question wrong," he said smugly.

Rose checked it again. "I so did not!" she snapped.

Albus looked over at the worksheet to check, too. He could hardly believe it, because Rose never got anything wrong on the theory part of magic. After seeing her answer to the second question, he confirmed that it was indeed correct.

"Yeah, you did. Let me see," said Scorpius, seizing her wrist and trying to prize the parchment away from her.

"Stop holding my hand!" said Rose angrily, yanking it away, her cheeks pink.

Scorpius smirked, looked at her answers a second time, and said, "Oh. Oops. Looks like you were right. Forget it." He let go of her and and sat back in his chair again, still with that same satisfied smirk on his face.

_What was all that about?_ Albus wondered.

"Honestly, Scorpius, why do you have to keep getting so _grabby_ all the time? Why did you lunge at me like that for no reason?" asked Rose.

"I did not 'lunge' at you!" said Scorpius indignantly. "I just didn't want you to get anything wrong, that's all! Because then you'd get all cranky—"

"I do _not_ get cranky if I get a question wrong," said Rose coldly. "Stop treating me like I'm some dragon that's breathing fire."

_Scorpius probably lied about Rose getting the question wrong just because he wanted an excuse to touch her hand, _realized Albus as Rose and Scorpius bickered back and forth. He grinned, deciding to use this information to blackmail Scorpius when necessary.

"You kind of are, though. One time, I got a better score on the exam than you did, and you wouldn't speak to me for a week. You even aimed a hex at me!" said Scorpius, snorting. "You missed, though."

"I was eleven!" said Rose hotly. "I've grown up! Unlike you. You—you're about as mature as a three-year-old!"

"So?" said Scorpius, unbothered. "At least I don't give a painful impersonation of an adult all the time. In fact, you don't even impersonate them properly, since you're always giggling and blushing like a five-year-old around those dumb Gryffindor jocks."

Rose reddened, more with fury than with embarrassment. "That—that—when did you see that? Have you been spying on me?"

It was Scorpius's turn to redden. "No way! It's just obvious that you do it a lot. But they're not desperate enough to be interested in a girl like you. You're not _hot_ enough."

Rose slammed her Transfiguration textbook closed so hard that the desk shook. "I think they think I'm 'hot' enough, Scorpius. A few days ago, Eric asked me whether I'd like to go to Hogsmeade with him on a date."

Scorpius choked on his breath. "_What_?"

"And I said yes, obviously," Rose continued.

Scorpius recovered himself. "But Derlwin's not talking to you anymore because you're with us instead of him, is he? So you're not going to Hogsmeade with him."

Rose rolled her eyes. "We'll make up. There's a week until Hogsmeade. All this about Albus and the assassin will die down after a few days—it pretty much already has—and he'll take me to Hogsmeade just like we planned. We were going to Madam Puddifoot's, too. You know, that place where couples _snog_."

For a moment, Scorpius sat there, stunned, but managed to retaliate. "Well," he sneered, "it looks like you've passed his inspection for a snogging partner. I mean, that's all he does, isn't it? He's been with ten girls already and got bored with them. I bet he'll kiss you once, find out that you're a terrible kisser, and move onto the next."

Rose began to turn purple. "He will not! He'll find that I'm a great kisser, and he won't dump me like he did to those other girls!"

Scorpius, in contrast, was paling. He opened his mouth, gaped like a fish, and closed it again. His fists were clenched underneath the table. He and Rose glared at each other, simultaneously stuck their noses into the air, and continued with their work. They were both breathing heavily and gritting their teeth, stabbing their quills at their parchment rather harder than was necessary.

Albus, trying to ease the tension, checked his watch and said, "It's almost nine. We'll be called into the Great Hall for the choosing of our teams any moment now."

Rose and Scorpius continued to give each other nasty looks. Luckily, Albus was saved from the awkwardness of trying to reconcile them by the announcement on the magical intercom. "The teams will be chosen at this point. Please make your way to the Great Hall for the assembly," said Triton's magically loud voice.

Relieved, Albus went back into the Great Hall with Rose and Scorpius, whose argument was forgotten due to the prospect of the choosing of the teams.

Triton was at the staff table. In front of him was a large glass bowl filled with hundreds of sparkling, colorful glass stones that seemed to illuminate the whole hall. They glittered and glimmered, their iridescent light almost blinding Albus.

"What are those for?" he asked.

"No idea," Rose murmured, before separating from him and Scorpius and joining the Gryffindor table as he and Scorpius sat down at the Slytherin table. The minutes went on, and the rest of the school flooded in, taking their seats and whispering, anticipating the moment when the assembly would start. They all kept throwing glances toward the massive glass bowl, wondering what the hundreds of the colored glass stones were for.

Finally, the last group of students, a gaggle of Hufflepuff first years, walked into the Great Hall, and the doors closed, leaving utter silence in their wake. Everyone was waiting for Triton to speak. He gave all four Houses a long look, as if preparing himself. Then, after what seemed like ages, he plastered a wide smile on his face and began. "Welcome to the Colorful Competition, which will begin today. You will be sorted into one of the seven teams, and you will have all of today to plan your course of action. The first event will be tomorrow, so you have a little time to get settled." The excitement level in the hall increased tenfold as he spoke, and he had to raise his voice to be heard above the whispering. "Names will be called by House. All Gryffindor students will be called first, then Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff, and then Slytherin. Your name will be called, and you will walk up here to be blindfolded. Once you cannot see anything, you will reach into the glass bowl here and pick a stone. The color of the stone will be the name of your team. Once you have picked your stone, return to your seat to wait for everyone else to pick their stone."

So, that was what the stones were for. Albus looked at the glass bowl with renewed interest. A closer look confirmed that each of the stones were one of seven different colors: Blue, red, green, violet, deep orange, brownish-black, and yellowish gold.

Triton unrolled a long scroll, one that kept unrolling for several yards after it had hit the ground. Some people snickered, but Triton paid them no attention. After clearing his throat self-importantly several times, Triton read off the first Gryffindor's name. "Abath, Garret!"

Garret Abath, as it turned out, was a fourth year and one of James's mindless jock friends. He sauntered to the glass bowl and waited there as Triton waved his wand, causing a magically tightened blindfold to appear in front of his eyes. Then Abath reached into the glass bowl and picked up a stone. The enchanted blindfold fell off automatically, and Abath raised his stone into the air. It was green.

"Team Green!" shouted Triton. Everyone cheered—apparently, Abath was popular. He walked back to his seat at the Gryffindor table and knocked his fist with James's.

The next name, "Abercrombie, Yvonne!" was called, and the first-year Gryffindor girl picked a purple stone. "Team Violet!"

The drawing of the colored stones continued. Name after name went by. When it was Derlwin's turn, he drew a brown stone. The Gryffindor names slowly whittled down. Albus found himself waiting for Elina's name. At last, "Lyon, Elina!" was called.

Elina cautiously walked forward, her long light brown hair flowing behind her. Once Triton had blindfolded her, she put her hand into the glass bowl and took out a stone. Her slender fingers were clenched around the small stone, so Albus couldn't see the color. Her blindfold fell off, revealing her stunning eyes. She opened her fist and looked down at the stone. A slight smile curled her lips, and she held the stone up for all of them to see. It was a light gold color.

"Team Golden!" said Triton as Elina walked back to her seat. Everyone was cheering. Elina was easily the most popular girl in the school—in the space of the ten seconds that it took to sit back down, she had already earned the nickname 'Golden Girl.'

After the applause had died down, Triton continued reading names from the list. And then, the name that most people were waiting for was read off: "Potter, James!"

James strutted to the glass bowl, flipped a few strands of dark hair that had been covering his hazel eyes (causing the girls to swoon and Albus to feel murderous), flashed the crowd a roguish smirk, was blindfolded by Triton, and reached into the bowl. A moment later, the blindfold fell off and James turned around, a wide grin on his face.

"Team Golden!"

The cheering this time was deafening. James was the second Golden Boy, the school favorite, the one that they all admired and worshipped yet were jealous of. But Albus felt his heart sink. James was in Team Golden with Elina, then. Would this bring them even closer together?

The next name jerked Albus out of his depressing thoughts. "Potter, Lily!"

Lily hopped off her seat eagerly, beaming. She practically skipped to the glass bowl and bounced about as the blindfold was placed over her eyes. She nearly upset the bowl in her haste to seize a stone. When the blindfold fell off—allowing Lily to see her color—she let out a squeal. Her stone, like James's and Elina's, was gold.

"Team Golden!"

The amount of stones decreased steadily as Triton read on, but there were still plenty left. When he arrived at the W's, a large amount of Weasleys were read off the list.

"Weasley, Dominique!"—"Team Orange!"

"Weasley, Louis!"—"Team Green!"

"Weasley, Fred!"—"Team Brown!"

"Weasley, Roxanne!"—"Team Blue!"

"Weasley, Lucy!"—"Team Violet!"

"Weasley, Molly!"—"Team Orange!"

"Weasley, Hugo!"—"Team Blue!"

"Weasley, Rose!" Rose determinedly walked up to the glass bowl and patiently waited as the blindfold closed over her eyes. Once it was firmly on, she stuck her hand into the bowl and swished around, as if searching for the right stone. Apparently, she had found it, because she raised her hand just as the blindfold slid off. The color of her stone was a shimmering scarlet. "Team Red!" Pleased, Rose walked back to her seat, still holding her stone.

Once all the Gryffindors had been called, Triton began to call the Ravenclaws. After all the Ravenclaws' teams had been chosen, the amount of stones had significantly decreased. The names of Hufflepuffs began to be called. After what seemed like ages, it was Slytherin's turn.

The first Slytherin called, "Acconi, Khione," picked a blue stone. Gerald Erwett drew a brown stone, and Wyatt Hemley got a green one. Many names passed, and the amount of stones lessened greatly. There were only about fifteen or so left, since the amount of people in Slytherin House was so small. And then—"Malfoy, Scorpius!"

Scorpius walked up to the glass bowl and had the blindfold put on him, trying, and failing, to look bored. His hand shaking slightly, he drew into the bowl and picked one of the stones. It was so bright that Albus could see it from the Slytherin table. "Team Red!"

Scorpius stalked back to the Slytherin table, shooting Rose an annoyed look. They would have to make peace, since they were going to be on the same team.

It was Oswald's turn next. Comically, he tripped on his way to the bowl and went sprawling on the ground, cueing cruel laughter from the rest of the hall. Glad to have his tears covered by the blindfold, he pulled out his stone, which was yellowish-gold. "Team Golden!" yelled Triton as Oswald tripped _again_ on his way back to the Slytherin table.

"Potter, Albus!"

Albus stood up, noticing that his legs were shaking. A few Slytherins grudgingly wished him good luck as he walked up to the staff table and the glass bowl in front of it. On his way there, Elina gave him a dazzling smile, which made him stumble and blush. A couple seconds later, he stopped in front of the glass bowl and got a glimpse of the stones. There was only one red stone left—it was lying next to the only golden one. He tried to train his attention on the red one, so that he'd choose it even when his eyes were covered.

Triton moved behind him and muttered something, causing darkness to obscure Albus's vision. The blindfold was tight and uncomfortable around his glasses. Trying to remember the exact position of the red stone, he slowly reached into the glass bowl. To his horror, one of his hands knocked violently against a stone, causing the positions of all of them to be changed drastically. He now no longer had any idea where the red stone was. Taking a wild guess, he closed his fingers around one of the smooth, small, and round stones. He lifted it out of the giant bowl, and his blindfold fell off.

In his hand was the gold stone, the stone that had been lying millimeters from the red stone that Albus had wanted.

"Team Golden!"

_Isn't it ironic that all of the Potters get into Team Golden? _thought Albus dully as he walked back to his seat. He was on James's team. He was not looking forward to the Colorful Competition anymore—not if James was going to be on the same team as him.

The last Slytherin was called a few minutes later. "Zabini, Blake!" The only stone remaining was a brown one, so nobody bothered to blindfold him. Once Zabini had taken his seat, confetti rained down from the magically enchanted ceiling. The confetti was a mix of all the seven colors, causing the Great Hall to look like a melting rainbow. Everyone began to shout and started to find their team members, nearly causing the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall to come falling down with the confetti. "Let the Colorful Competition begin!" shouted Triton. "Meet up with your team members in the following locations." He began to call out the locations, naming each team and then the place they had to meet up with their team members. "Team Red will meet outside the Owlery, Team Green will meet outside the library, Team Orange will meet outside the DADA classroom, Team Brown will meet in the dungeons beside the Potions chamber, Team Blue will meet by the Hospital Wing, Team Violet will meet in the entrance hall, and Team Golden will meet in the Great Hall!"

Most of the students ran out of the Great Hall, combining to form a great wave, trampling anything in their way, but a seventh of the students remained—Team Golden. Oswald and Albus were the only two Slytherins who were in Team Golden. Reluctantly, they left the sanctuary of the Slytherin table and inched towards the Gryffindor table, where James was already holding court with the other sixty or so members of Team Golden. _Just my luck that I get into the team where there are barely any Slytherins, _thought Albus. Even if he and the Slytherins had had a falling out, they would still support him above James. And worse, he and Witless Oswald Nesbitt—never the best of allies—were hopelessly outnumbered.

"We have to elect a leader," James was saying as Albus warily approached the crowd. "To be fair, we'll have a vote." He smirked arrogantly, as if he thought the idea unnecessary.

_It probably is, though, _thought Albus gloomily. _He's Mr. Popular. He's the King of Hogwarts. No one else is going to challenge him._

Albus's guess was right. Nobody did. He sighed—if he had been backed by more Slytherins (who weren't angry at him), he might have tried to challenge James himself. But with only a sniffling Oswald, he'd be laughed at. He decided to resign himself to following James's orders. _He'll probably make me lick his shoes and then kick me when I'm done, _thought Albus bitterly.

"You, James," said Elina after a brief silence. "I vote you."

Albus felt like he had been punched in the gut. She had thought James a better leader without hesitation. Had she even considered Albus?

More people seemed to agree with Elina, until nearly all of them—with the exception of Albus and Oswald—started chanting, "JAMES! JAMES! JAMES!"

James grinned, flashing his white teeth and causing his cheeks to dimple. He waved his hand to quiet the chanting and the applause. "Okay, okay, if you insist."

Albus was quite literally steaming at this point. Why was James popular, intelligent, funny, and talented all at the same time? It was _ridiculous_. And why did James have to be so good looking so effortlessly? Why did his hair have to be so perfectly windswept, and why did he have to always carelessly flip away the part that was covering his eyes (that did not need inch-thick spectacles like Albus's did)? And the worst of it all, _why_ was Elina staring at James like that?

Albus was jerked out of his bitter thoughts by the arrival of Headmaster Triton, who was strolling towards them with a shining gold envelope in his hand. "Team Golden!" he said jovially. "Here are your instructions. Use them to prepare for the event tomorrow morning."

_I've never seen the man so happy, _thought Albus dryly as Triton walked away, a bounce in his step.

James had snatched the letter and was now impatiently tearing it open, everyone peering over his shoulder to try and get a glimpse of it. Albus didn't even bother; he knew that he'd be pushed away if he tried. James started to scan the letter, an eager look coming over his disgustingly perfect features.

"Read it out loud!" Lily snapped. "I can't see it properly!"

"All right, calm down!" James shouted to the rest of Team Golden. "I'll read it! Okay, here I go:

"The first event of the Colorful Competition will be broomstick race. Each team has precisely sixty members. Only ten are allowed to race, while the others will have to take down other racers on other teams. Once a racer is hit by a spell, they cannot continue racing. The team of whoever survives long enough to reach the finish line first wins.

"There are also rules for the first event: 1) No dangerous spells are allowed to be cast at the racers. 2) If you are a racer, you are allowed to cast spells back at your attackers or rival racers from other teams. 3) At least one person from each House must be a racer—"

There was much groaning at this last rule and a brief chant of "Slytherins are useless losers!", but Albus was pleased. He was going to be a racer, no matter how much James didn't want him to be.

James looked irritated at the rule, but continued nevertheless. "The race will take place in an obstacle course. The racers will find themselves not only attacked by members from other teams, but also by magical objects within the obstacle course. The obstacle course will stretch throughout the Hogwarts grounds.

"Good luck to you all, and let the competition begin!" He finished reading off the bottom of the parchment, and then put the parchment back into the golden letter. "All right, so we've got a broomstick race. Anyone here on a House team? Raise your hand if you are."

Albus raised his hand, as did a handful of other people. James looked around and counted. He seemed to know everybody. "Lucas, Esther, Royce, Tiffany, Quinn, Raphael, Mitchel, Ashley, me... we need one more."

"There aren't any Slytherins," Elina pointed out. "I think Al should be the last racer. He's amazingly fast."

At her praise, Albus felt as though he was floating among the fluffy, soft-looking clouds.

James, as it turned out, did not feel the same way. "Fine!" he spat. "Snivellus will race."

"Don't call him that," Elina snapped, causing Albus's heart to flutter as it never failed to when she spoke. He knew that she'd always defend him, even against her closest friends.

James looked even more put out, if that was possible. He turned away from Elina and shot Albus the famed Glare Capable of Causing an Extremely Painful Death—as if it was all Albus's fault that Elina was defending him. He moodily kicked the ground and pouted.

Elina looked slightly guilty at this. She pulled James towards her and put an arm around his shoulders. "You're a great leader, James," she said.

At once, Albus's heart stopped fluttering and sank to his feet, which were now firmly on the very hard and solid ground. Some people started wolf-whistling, further ruining his mood.

Emboldened, James shot Albus a malicious look and began to speak again. "All right, the rest of you have to shoot spells at racers that aren't on our teams. We have to take them all down. You'll probably have to hide somewhere in the obstacle course, so try to find a place where you can see them but they can't see you. Also, find somewhere close to them. If you cast the spell, it'll be so close that they won't have any time to get away. Also, they'll be flying pretty fast, so try to aim a bit ahead of them... and if you're in a spot of trouble, send up fireworks. Practice those, too."

James continued to give advice to the members. The members of Team Golden ended up unrolling some parchment and drew a map of the Hogwarts grounds, as if imagining how the obstacle course was going to look. James assigned positions and had them practice spells, and Albus, who had been ignored this whole time and wasn't about to complain about it, started to circle the area in order to watch people practice.

"_Periculum maxima_!" said Elina loudly. Nothing happened. She looked as if she wanted throw her wand to the ground. "Oh, it's not working! Why can everybody but me do it?"

James grinned. "Come on, there's lots of people that can't do it. The Fireworks Charm is pretty difficult."

"_You_ can do it!" Elina whined.

"Well, I'm _me_," said James, twirling his wand. He flipped his hair out of his eyes, probably for Elina's benefit.

"You're such an arrogant little git," Elina teased, laughing and pretending to hit him.

"For good reason," James teased back. "Let's try the spell again. I don't think you're waving your wand properly. Here, let me—"

Elina raised her wand, and he put his hand on hers. A blush spread across her cheeks as she looked at their joined hands. "_Periculum maxima,"_ she whispered, now looking at James. He helped her move her wand in a figure-eight motion, and the fireworks started. Copious amounts of red and gold sparks burst from the tip of Elina's wand with loud bangs, lighting up her and James's delighted faces.

The dark feeling blazed alive inside of Albus so suddenly that he didn't even know that it had happened. All he knew was that a burning jealousy consumed him, so great that he couldn't think straight. A monstrous, animalistic instinct took over, one that he had never felt so strongly before. He wanted to attack James, to strangle him, to rip him apart. His eyes glinted sinisterly, either from jealousy or from the power that flowed through his veins.

And then, Albus realized what was happening. He struggled with himself, trying to push the deadly hatred away. He couldn't attack them. He couldn't let his emotions get away with him. He had to control his powers. He couldn't burst into flame or start shooting lightning. Not when Elina was there. What if he hurt her?

To his relief, the dark power settled back down. As he always did after it left him, Albus felt exhausted. The world was spinning around him, and his knees felt weak.

"Al, how long have you been standing there?" Elina asked, looking away from James.

Fortunately, nobody had noticed the sinister glint in his eyes. "J-Just a moment," he choked out.

"Are you okay? You look really pale all of a sudden," said Elina concernedly, breaking away from James and walking over to Albus, whose legs were still shaking with the effort of keeping him standing.

"I-I'm f-f-fine," Albus stammered, his head pounding.

What was that power? Why was it showing up more often? Was it triggered by strong emotions? It terrified him. It was sinister, deadly, dark, evil, monstrous. He didn't want it. What if it had gotten out of his control? Would he have attacked James? Would he have glowed green and caused a shockwave like he had in the Forbidden Forest last year? Would he have turned into a firestorm and burned the whole school down? Was he even _capable_ of that?

His heart was beating frantically, and his surroundings had not yet stopped whirling. He had to get away from Elina and James. He couldn't let that power—that power that he hated more than anything else—come back. "I-I h-have t-t-to go," he gasped, stuttering so horribly that his words were barely understandable. He stumbled away and ran from the Great Hall, clutching his pounding chest.

"Al! Where are you going?" Elina called, trying to pull him back.

He couldn't let her touch him. What if he hurt her? He didn't look back.

"ALBUS!"

The doors of the Great Hall closed behind him. He was standing in the entrance hall. He could hear talking from Team Violet somewhere down the hall, but wasn't bothered by it. He leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths. Albus could imagine them. A crowd of people watching him in his second year, watching him shoot lightning out of his palms, watching him subduing five Chimaeras, watching him running out of the Great Hall after he'd been accused of sending students into a coma, watching him glowing brightly before collapsing, watching him fall to the ground and pass out, many times, still blazing the brightest green. He could remember Cryptan the Paradox speaking to him, telling him that they were oddly similar. Most vividly, he could remember how he felt when that terrible dark sensation took over him, morphed him into an animal.

_He's not like us—he's strange._

_He's too powerful._

_He's endangering us all._

_You don't belong here—you don't belong with the rest of us!_

_Get out! Get out! We don't want to see your face!_

_Nobody wants you here! Leave, and don't come back!_

_Freak._

_Monster._

Albus slid down the wall, his legs too weak to support him. He covered his head with his arms, trying to block out the buzzing of the power that was constantly thudding through his veins and pounding in his ears.

_What am I?_

* * *

**Author's Note: Hiya! Thank you for all the reviews, they are greatly appreciated. (And so are the favorites and the alerts/follows!) The reason I decided to have an author's note is that I was asked a few questions in the reviews. By the way, I have no issue with answering questions. If you have a burning desire to ask me something about the story, you can do so. It may or may NOT get answered, because if it's asking me to reveal too much, I won't. (If you're Anonymous/Guest then I'll have to answer your question in an author's note, and if you're an actual member and signed in I'll answer your question in my reply. Or you can just PM me—but I prefer it in a review, because then everyone else can see it.)**

**Anyways, I'll do my best to answer the questions asked by **Aria**. S/he asked me whether I was planning to bring the Triwizard Tournament back in Book 4 (Since Book 4 parallels GoF). My answer is NO. I find it unlikely that it will be brought back, since the one time they tried to restart it, something super bad happened, if you remember the rather shocking ending of GoF. Like **Aria** mentioned, it would be strange for them to try again. Honestly, I _really_ wanted to bring it back, but it would just be a stretch because of the aforementioned reason. Also, I'd like to make it clear that though there is a parallel, the books are NOT THE EXACT SAME as HP. There was absolutely NO mention of the Mirror of Erised and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone in Book 1, nor the Chamber of Secrets in Book 2. Just because the plots paralleled HP does NOT mean they are the same. Book 3 has a _much_ darker and violent twist than PoA does, and Book 4 is practically an action-packed bloodbath. I have a very...uh...death-and-drama-abundant idea for my GoF parallel, and it is in NO WAY as lighthearted as the Triwizard Tournament was intended to be.**

**The next question, also by **Aria**, was about the Albus/Elina/James love triangle. Yes, it is supposed to mirror the Snape/Lily/James triangle. (There's actually an inside joke between me and myself here. Elina Lyon's initials reversed are Lily Evans' initials.) I will have MUCH fun with this triangle in future books. Books 4 and 5 give the phrase "love triangle" a whole new (read: very dark/angsty) meaning. I will not reveal anything more on the matter, because it's going to be very fun (by "fun" I mean suspenseful/terrifying/dark/angst-filled) and I don't want to ruin it.**

**Note that this not-so-fun "fun" only comes into play in Book 4. I will tell you that Book 3 has the last (and probably only) "fluff" and "silly teenager" moments in the series. After Book 3, there is very little happy stuff. Do you like this flirting/dating/Valentine's Day (I swear that chapter is ridiculous) nonsense? Too bad. Enjoy it while you can—there's a TON of it in Book 3. But Book 4, as previously mentioned, is a complete BLOODBATH, and there is no time to even _breathe_ among all the action and violence, let alone have nonsense teenage fun. All the romance from Book 4 onwards takes a dark/angsty tone, but it will still definitely be there.**

**I will not spoil anything else. I already revealed way too much about Book 4, Albus Potter and the Bloodbath of Suspenseful Action Scenes and Dramatic Deaths (okay, that's _not_ the title—I'm keeping hush hush on that for now—but it might as very well be the title). Anyways, hope you're enjoying Assassinator's Quest! Thanks so much to all those of you who reviewed, favorited, and followed, and I hope you keep doing so! Questions about the series are welcomed!**

**-Crystalline Iridescentia**


	9. Team Golden Pride

**-Chapter Nine-**

**Team Golden Pride**

At eight o'clock in the morning of the day of the broomstick race, Albus went to the entrance hall with the rest of the school. "The first event of the Colorful Competition will start shortly," called Triton, his voice magically loud enough to rumble through the corridors of the castle. "You will be given some time to look at the obstacle course and mount your broomsticks. The race will begin at eight-thirty precisely. Meet up with your teams at your meeting spots!"

Before Albus could even begin to look around, someone grabbed his arm and pulled him through a tapestry. He let out a gasp, but relaxed when he saw that it was Elina.

"Al, I want to talk to you alone," she whispered.

Trying to ignore the fact that his heartbeat was accelerating out of control, Albus stammered, "W-What is it?"

"What was wrong yesterday?" Elina asked. "You just ran out of there, and you didn't listen to me when I tried to call you back."

"Sorry about that," Albus mumbled. "I wasn't—er—feeling well."

Elina's eyes were shining with concern. "Did you go to the Hospital Wing? Are you all right now?" She put her hand on his head as if checking for a fever. Goosebumps erupted where her skin touched his.

"I-I'm fine," he said, trying, and failing, to keep his voice from shaking.

"You're not," Elina insisted. She hesitated, turning pink. "Is... is it because you saw me and James?"

_That's a part of it, _thought Albus. He didn't say anything out loud; he was pretty sure that his rapidly reddening face said it all.

Elina didn't seem to want to discuss this topic anymore. She changed the subject quickly. "I was really worried. Don't do that again."

"Er—I won't," Albus promised.

Elina smiled slightly and leaned against the wall, tilting her head up. He studied her wavy hair, noticing that it made soft, shiny ringlets down to her waist. He had always known that she was quite pretty, but he hadn't ever truly noticed how beautiful she was.

"You know, Al," she said, jerking him out of his reverie. "You're the person who knows me the most."

He stared at her, not quite sure what she meant.

"You're the only person who knows about Mummy, about what happened at the end of last year. I never saw the embodiment of evil—I just knew he was there. I knew his name; he'd keep whispering into my head. I thought I was going to die then, you know. I couldn't break away from him, and I wasn't strong enough to repel the Imperius Curse. I thought I wouldn't survive. That's why I gave you the locket. I'd visited the Sapphire Unicorn a few nights before I gave it to you, and she told me that there was one person that I could unfalteringly trust with my life. She said it was you, so I trusted her judgment. She was right.

"When I passed out after he came out of me, I thought that was it. But it wasn't. When I woke up after, I knew I'd see your face. I had a feeling that it'd be you, and it was." Elina took a deep breath. "And you're the only person who's seen me cry like that. I've never cried like that—never so hard. I was terrified that you and everyone else would think that I was a stupid, foolish little girl."

Albus listened to her spill her secrets out, completely shocked that she was telling him so much. Had she ever spoken about this to anyone else?

"I don't want to be weak," Elina continued, her voice shaking slightly. "Some people think I'm delicate, fragile, and I just want to show them I'm not. I don't want you think of me as someone like that, but I'm afraid you will because... well... you're _you_. You're so fearless and cunning, and so talented. You can do anything with a wand, and you're amazingly powerful. It's kind of scary... but brilliant."

Albus, abashed, looked at the ground as his face turned several shades of red.

"People call you a loser, a disgrace. In first year, I just felt sorry for you. I wanted to stop people from bullying you, because you didn't deserve that. I thought that you needed _my_ help." She laughed, as if that was the most ludicrous thought ever. "But now... I don't feel sorry for you. There's no reason to. Sometimes, I just want to tell them what you did. Maybe that'd make them respect you like I do."

Albus felt like he was floating again. He wasn't sure how they had ended up so close, but suddenly realized that he was inches away from her.

"In short, Al, you're really brave. But... but there's something else I have to ask you. In Mummy's note—you opened my locket—in her note, Mummy said that only someone who lo—" Elina stopped talking and looked at the ground. "N-Never mind. Forget that last bit."

Albus had a feeling that he knew what she had been about to say, and was glad that she hadn't said it. He didn't want to be put on the spot like that.

"Anyways, I just really wanted to talk to you. I've been holding everything that happened last year in, and you're the only person that I can talk about it to." Elina gave him a dazzling smile, and then she put her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Thanks for listening."

Albus went completely numb at her touch. "A-Anytime. Anytime_ at all_," he stammered, uncoordinated and breathless as she drew away from him.

"We don't want to be late," she said. "James would kill us."

_James _would_ kill me if he found out that I was talking to you, _thought Albus. Strangely enough, he didn't feel at all bothered by this. He was closer to Elina than James was now, and that was much better than being the popular, perfect King of Hogwarts.

His heart still performing various tricks such as swooping around, cartwheeling, and pirouetting, Albus arrived at the Great Hall, Elina running in front of him. "James!" she called, waving her hand around, trying to catch his attention.

James whirled around, turning his back on the crowd that was Team Golden. He flinched at the sight of Albus next to Elina, but after gaping in horror for a few seconds, composed himself and gave Elina a charming grin, causing her cheeks to turn pink.

Albus's heart's festivities jerked to a stop. Slumping slightly, he neared the crowd and stood off to the side as Triton came towards them.

"How are you doing, Team Golden?" said Triton. "The race will begin near Hagrid's hut! The obstacle course is currently invisible outside—you will be able to see it only when the race begins. This way, you won't be able to plan your course of action. Also... the obstacles do have a nasty habit of occasionally flickering and disappearing, so know where you're going, or you might crash into an invisible wall." He chuckled slightly.

"What's more, you all have to wear golden hats! This way, you'll be able to tell yourselves apart from members of other teams." Triton waved his wand, and a stack of ridiculous golden wizard hats appeared in his other hand. "These hats act primarily as your uniforms during the events," said Triton, handing one of the hats to James. "Each person will wear his or her hat during the events. The hats are charmed so that they will not fall off your head accidentally. As you can see, the hats are in the color of your team."

He began to pass the hats out, on occasion multiplying them if they were running out. They all looked quite stupid in the hats—though James somehow managed to look dashing. Kimberly Osterlyn, a girl from Gryffindor, was loudly complaining about how her golden hat clashed with her blond hair. Albus yanked his own golden hat on. Thankfully, it was the right size, though the glittery golden fabric was slightly itchy. When he tried to pull the hat off, it stuck firmly to his head due the charm that had been put on it. He sighed, giving up on adjusting his hat and looking around for a hint of when the first event would start.

"Racers, you must make your way to the changing rooms to wait for the race to begin. Other members of Team Golden, you must come with me to take your places in the obstacle course." Elina, Lily, Oswald, and the rest of them who wouldn't be flying walked out obediently. Elina turned around to wave goodbye to the racers. Both Albus and James waved back at her enthusiastically, and then glared at each other furiously.

Triton turned to the racers. He flicked his wand again, and a pile of ten broomsticks appeared nearby. "We ordered many of these for this very event"—Albus vaguely remembered his parents mentioning this fact over the summer—"and they are all the same, so no racers will have an unfair advantage."

James looked put out; he had the first version of the Lightningbolt, which was now one of the fastest broomsticks in the world. Albus, however, had lost his Firebolt, and was grateful that he would be given another broomstick to use for the race.

"Racers! Come up so I can pass out broomsticks. To keep the race at a reasonable pace, they're Comet 300's."

Albus raised an eyebrow. Any kind of Comet broomstick was a thing of the past, but he supposed a 300 couldn't be _that_ slow. He, James, and the other racers stepped up to receive their broomsticks. Triton handed Albus his with a small smile on his face. Not sure what that was about, Albus took his broomstick and returned to his spot.

Triton nodded at them and moved onto the next team, Team Violet, which was stationed in the entrance hall.

A few minutes later, the racers from other teams caught up with them and joined them in the Great Hall. Neither Rose nor Scorpius was among them. The seventy racers walked into the changing rooms as the rest of the school took their places on the Hogwarts grounds. Albus's palms were sweaty, and he was clenching his broomstick unnecessarily hard. James, on the other hand, was at ease. He was casually leaning against the wall of the changing room, looking bored. Albus shot him a dirty look for no particular reason, except that James was annoying him by looking as if he had no worry in the world.

"What crawled up your arse and died?" James sneered.

The dirty look from Albus intensified.

James hesitated a moment before obnoxiously adding, "And what the _hell_ were you doing with Elina earlier?"

Albus smirked so widely that James looked slightly alarmed at his change in expression. "We were just talking about what happened last year. You know, about how I saved her life and the rest of the school..." He trailed off, giving his brother a malicious grin.

James turned red with fury. It was probably the first time in his life that he didn't look attractive. "I told you to stay away from her!"

"Blah, blah, blah," Albus mocked him, still smirking. "I hear an annoying noise in the background, but I'm not going to bother to figure out what nonsense it's trying to say."

James advanced, looking furious. "I doubt she even cares! Not with you being a specky, scrawny git."

Albus clenched the handle of his broomstick so hard that it almost splintered. "Oh, I think she cares. Because I've actually _done_ something. It was me, and _she_ knows it, even if no one else does. And do you know what else she did in the Forbidden Forest?" He was cackling now, liking the stupefied look on James's face. "She kissed me." It was a blatant lie; Albus had never kissed a girl before, but James didn't need to know that.

The color drained out of James's face. "She didn't! You liar!" he snarled, taking a few steps closer to Albus and seizing his collar in a threatening manner.

"She did," Albus lied through gritted teeth.

A cold smile flitted over James's face. "She kissed me, too."

It was Albus's turn to blanch. He wasn't sure what to say. Somehow, Elina kissing James was much more believable than her kissing Albus.

"Do you want to hear about it?" asked James, the vicious grin still on his face. "I'll tell you. It was my second year, her first. It was on the Astronomy Tower at midnight. We were running from the ghost of Filch. We took refuge on the tower, and that's when we kissed. Want to hear the details?"

"Shut up!" Albus yelled. "_Shut up_!" Blood was roaring in his ears. It wasn't true, right? It _couldn't_ be. But how would James be able to come up with such a tale on the spot if it wasn't true? "Y-You're lying!" he stuttered.

"Not lying," said James. "Want me to tell you how nice her hair feels? How smooth her skin is? How soft her _lips_ are? Really nice, really smooth, and _really_ soft."

Albus's surroundings were spinning. He wanted to pummel James until he resembled a smear on the ground, but at the same time, Albus couldn't move. Even though his brain wasn't functioning, he found his mouth working of its own accord. "Y-You didn't kiss her," he insisted shakily. "If you did, you would've been dating her already. But you're just getting jealous of me and her. You didn't kiss her. That's just some wild story you've made up—"

"It's true," James growled. "But I know what isn't: you and her kissing in the Forbidden Forest. You don't have the guts, and she doesn't fancy you. And if she did kiss you, it was because she felt sorry for you and your woeful lack of experience—"

"You didn't kiss her!" Albus shouted for the tenth time. "Why isn't she your girlfriend already if you've kissed her?"

James's cocky expression faltered slightly. "Maybe she wanted to wait. Has that occurred to your thick mind?" he sneered, recovering himself quickly.

"If she wanted to wait, she still would've been dating you by now! She's thirteen!" Albus spat, determined not to back down. "If she's not your girlfriend now, it means she's not interested. Maybe she's found someone else!"

James laughed derisively. "_You_? Really? Is that out of some wild dream of yours? Someone like _her_, with _you_? Don't you get that everyone hates you, you _freak_?"

In that moment, Albus's eyes glinted sinisterly, and a dark fire blazed alive within them. He was quite sure that he would have attacked James mercilessly if the door hadn't opened.

Professor Neville stood behind it. "All the students have taken their places on the obstacle course," said Neville, trying to ignore the tension between Albus and James. "The racers are instructed to come outside with me to begin the race."

They followed him outside and paused by the doors to the castle. "Follow the path," said Neville. He pointed to a long black velvet carpet that stretched from here to Hagrid's hut. It was like a walk of fame, except that the grounds were completely deserted.

"Where's everyone else?" asked James, looking around at the empty grounds.

"It's a very powerful Disillusionment Charm," Neville explained. "You won't see the racecourse until the very moment it starts."

They arrived at Hagrid's hut, where Triton was waiting. He told them to get into a straight, horizontal line. All seventy of them lined up, facing forward, their shoulders touching. "Mount your broomsticks!" called Triton. They did, their faces set in determination. "Ready, set..." He raised his wand and waved it.

Albus immediately let out a gasp. It was as if a giant Invisibility Cloak had just been taken off the entire grounds. Hoops and beams had appeared over the grass, sparkling and very solid. Large, thick poles had sprouted up out of the ground, and so had colorful boxes that were stacked on top of each other like pyramids. Giant balls rolled around, crushing everything in their path. In addition to that, a rainbow colored line had appeared near Hagrid's hut, and an identical line had appeared near the doors that led into the castle—the start line and the finish line, it seemed. The race course stretched on and on, and it reappeared past the Black Lake.

The Hogwarts grounds had turned into a giant's playpen.

"GO!"

All seventy of them shot forward like bullets. At once, the obstacle course flickered and turned invisible. Albus recalled Triton saying that this would happen to throw them off and confuse them. Immediately, several racers crashed into invisible obstacles. Just in time, Albus remembered that there had been a large yellow wall in front of him. Just because it was invisible didn't mean that it wasn't there. He shifted to the right, remembering that there had been a narrow path there before the obstacle course had turned invisible. He barely managed to get through, and he could feel the wall brushing his side as he flew.

And then, the obstacle course turned visible again. Albus felt a brief second of relief before spells came out of nowhere, all aimed at him. The students who were not racing were trying to take out the racers of the other teams. Albus saw multicolored hats peeking out from behind colorful walls. Cursing under his breath, he managed to dodge their spells and nearly crashed into a giant ball that was rolling around the grounds at full speed.

His pursuers kept shooting spells at him, unrelenting. At that moment, Albus had an idea. He could take them out easily—all he needed was that giant ball. He whirled around, pulled out his wand, and took careful aim at the ball. "_Duco!" _As if the ball had been seized by invisible strings, it stopped moving and was drawn back towards him. Keeping his wand on the ball, Albus turned around and faced his attackers—a few students from Team Red, Team Violet, and Team Brown. Smirking, he flicked his wand. The ball changed course, ricocheted off the nearest wall, and went tumbling towards the enemy students on the ground. They scattered, barely managing to evade the giant ball, which was plowing down anything in its path with evident ease.

Satisfied, Albus flew on. He tried to memorize the obstacle course completely, preparing for the moment when it would turn invisible again. Giant glowing arrows were pointing the way to go. The nearest arrow to him was pointing left, and he turned obediently. Immediately, the walls in front of him slid closed like doors, not leaving him any space to go on. He snarled furiously and whipped out his wand again. "_Bombarda maxima!" _he shouted, causing the walls to crack with large explosion and crumble down, leaving the way free for him. He shot through them, nothing but a golden and black blur in the sky.

And then another spell zoomed towards him with frightening speed. Albus careened out of the way and turned to face his assailant with a snarl. It was Garret Abath, one of James's friends, from Team Green. He was a racer and was indolently leaning back on his broom while twirling his wand. Albus narrowed his eyes and hissed, "_Stupefy!" _

Garret Abath drifted aside, looking bored.

Albus narrowed his eyes even more, until they resembled nothing more than slits. He'd show that arrogant Gryffindor what a Slytherin could do. He pointed his wand squarely at Abath's broomstick and determinedly thought, _Duro! _The Gryffindor's broomstick promptly turned to hard, heavy stone.

At first, Garret Abath didn't seem to know what had happened. "You missed. A lot," he said smugly, leaning back.

He wasn't smug a second later. His broomstick dropped like the stone it was, and he remained suspended in the air for a split second before he, too, dropped straight down. Flailing wildly and screaming, he fell to the ground. He lay there, stirring weakly and groaning.

Albus cackled gleefully and flew on, trying to make his broomstick go faster. He looked around for the glowing arrows to tell him where to go next, but, to his horror, found that the obstacle course had flickered invisible again. He stood still, breathing heavily. He had to be careful. What he really wanted to do was to wait it out, but if he did, he'd be losing precious time.

Deciding on the spot, he slowly moved forwards, casting harmless spells in front of him to see if they rebounded against anything. Emboldened slightly, he kept going. He didn't quite know whether he was going in the right direction—for all he knew, he could be going backwards—but he had a good feeling.

Fortunately, the obstacle course turned visible again. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw the arrow that showed him that he was going in the right direction. Surprisingly, he wasn't the only one. There were about ten racers here, all of them travelling at the same speed as him. Albus gulped. This wasn't good. He had to win—not be average. Where was James? Was he almost finished already?

Clutching the handle of his broomstick more tightly than ever, Albus titled forwards on his broom so that he was flat against it. _Let's go. _At a speed greater than any of his companions', he rocketed through the course. He zoomed past blocks of building blocks and rolling balls, relishing in the feel of the wind whipping his hair. He pushed his broomstick faster, taking sharp turns without faltering and going through hoops of fire without flinching.

To his irritation, a member of Team Orange was nearing him. Albus vaguely recognized him as a Chaser on the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team. Albus shot a nonverbal spell at him, but the Chaser dodged it. Albus narrowed his eyes and tried to push his broomstick faster, hoping to outfly the Ravenclaw Chaser. But the Chaser, it seemed, wasn't going down without a fight. He pulled up to Albus, and, neck and neck, they flew through an icy blue ring.

Now that he was nearing a pyramid of blocks, Albus was getting very worried. He had to get rid of the Ravenclaw Chaser here. Perhaps he could wait until everything turned invisible again and confuse him to crash into something—but no. He'd have to wait too long. Desperate, Albus shot three spells in succession at the Chaser, but the Chaser managed to evade them.

There was a small square shaft that marked the entrance to the pyramid. Albus pushed ahead of the Chaser and shot through it, feeling panicked as the walls pressed in on him in the darkness. The Ravenclaw Chaser slipped in afterwards, hot on Albus's tail. Albus pushed his broomstick further, his eyes darting left and right. He had realized that there were several pathways branching off the main one. Where should he go?

Before he could ponder this, spells shot towards him out of the darkness. He weaved through them, his heart beating irregularly fast. This pyramid was dangerous since he didn't have a clear view of his attackers. The Ravenclaw Chaser surpassed him, but Albus was determined not to be taken down. He sent spell after spell spiraling at the Chaser, and the Chaser was forced to swerve to avoid the onslaught. Albus quickly caught up with and passed the Chaser, pleased with himself.

His feeling of pleasure did not last for long, though. At that moment, the walls in front of the exit began to move in, trapping him. A small shaft of light was looming ahead of him, but it was too far away. Could he make it in time? He gripped the handle of his broomstick so tight that it almost splintered, and leaned forward so that he was almost horizontal on top of the broomstick. The air whipped past him as he dodged spells and turned into a blur. Closer... closer... closer...

It was too late. The shaft of light closed, and the inside of the pyramid was plunged into darkness. Albus and the Ravenclaw Chaser both crashed into the wall and fell to the ground, groaning. Albus was back on his feet in an instant, but the Ravenclaw Chaser wasn't so lucky. He seemed to have sprained his arm and was clutching it, his face twisted in pain.

Albus considered helping him, but decided that he couldn't do anything anyways. And one opponent down was one opponent that he didn't have to deal with. Not feeling very guilty, Albus left him in the dirt and jumped back on his broomstick, trying to figure out where to go. Other passageways twisted around him, but he didn't know which one to take.

"_Psst_! Al! Over here!" hissed a voice from a passageway to the left. Albus flew through it, looking around wildly.

"It's Elina!" Elina's head popped out of another passageway, this one to his right. "I've been shooting spells at members of other teams from here for ages now, and I know this place. There's another way out."

Albus stared at her, open-mouthed. There was smudge of dirt on her cheek, her golden hat was slightly lopsided, and there was a wild glint in her eyes.

She looked _hot_.

"Uh—hi," he stammered, completely forgetting that he was in the middle of an important race.

"What are you waiting for?" said Elina. "Come on! I know a way out!" She took off running so fast that Albus could barely follow her, even on a broomstick. Her long hair danced behind her as she ran, somehow knowing her way through the dimness. Albus and his broomstick kept stumbling into the walls—though this was perhaps because he was too busy staring at her to fly properly.

They reached a long, thin pole that reached into the dark ceiling of the pyramid. Elina suddenly stopped here, causing Albus to nearly crash into her. She pointed up. "That's the way out."

"But there's no light! It doesn't look like there's an opening!" Albus protested.

Elina shook her head. "It's open sometimes. I think something triggers the top of the pyramid to open up. I don't know what it is, but it _can_ open. That's your best chance."

Albus was about to follow the pole up, but Elina seized the end of his robes and pulled him close. Hoping that he wasn't beet red, he asked, "W-What?"

"I should come with you," said Elina. "You don't want a racer from another team to get out with you. If I'm with you, I can fire hexes at them and keep them away from you. I'll climb up the pole to the top while you fly up." She clutched at the pole and tried to pull herself up, but winced when her hands slid painfully down the length that she had managed to climb.

Albus hovered closer to her. "Get onto my broomstick," he suggested. "There's nothing in the rules that says anything against it."

Elina turned pink. "Oh—I—I've never been on a broomstick before," she admitted. "I-I crashed once when I was really young, and I've been afraid of getting on one after that."

Albus held his hand out. "I'm here. I won't let you fall." Elina bit her lip nervously, and Albus hovered closer to the ground. "You can sit in the front," he added. "That way, if you accidentally fall back, I'll be there."

Elina seemed to have made up her mind. "I trust you," she said simply. She stepped on the broomstick and slipped down, now resting behind the handle and in front of Albus. Not wanting her to fall, he wrapped one hand around her waist and clasped the handle of the broomstick with the other. She grasped the handle with both of her hands, and her left one brushed briefly against his. He held it.

They were both blushing.

"Hold on. We're going straight up," said Albus, trying not to focus too much on the fact that their bodies were pushed tightly against each other. Fortunately (or rather, unfortunately), there wasn't enough time to enjoy the feeling.

They rocketed skywards, the broomstick perfectly vertical. Elina let out a whoop of excitement. "This is—this is _amazing_!" As they rose, Albus could see the maze inside the pyramid come completely into view. They came to a jerky stop at the very top, the very pinnacle of the inside of the pyramid.

"How does it open?" Albus muttered, standing up the broom and brushing a hand over the smooth walls.

"Look there!" Elina gasped, pointing at a small symbol near his hand. Albus touched it, but nothing happened.

He let out a frustrated growl. They were losing time! He took out his wand and hissed, "_Alohomora!" _ The symbol glowed slightly white, but nothing else happened.

"Wait!" Elina shouted, pointing across the ceiling. "Look at it!"

Albus craned his neck to look at the tilted ceiling of the pyramid. Symbols all over it had burst to life, making the ceiling of the pyramid look like a starry sky.

Albus and Elina stared at each other, not comprehending what had happened. What did it mean?

But they didn't have enough time to figure it out. At that moment, several racers from other teams flew towards them, casting spells at dizzying speed. Elina took out her wand and blasted one of the racers from Team Blue in the chest, sending him back to the bottom. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" she called down after him, looking very worried and guilty.

"Great shot—," Albus began to say, but stopped when another spell zoomed towards them from a racer from Team Brown. Albus darted sideways, barely avoiding the spell. Elina nearly fell off from the unexpectedness of the sudden move, but he pulled her back to him and helped steady her. Several more racers were now bearing down on them, all flying closer and closer.

"If only I could get all the symbols to pulse at once," said Albus to himself, running spells through his head. "_Totalus lumen!"_

That did the trick. As one, all the symbols glowed brightly, and from them, thin white lines began to crisscross the whole inside of the pyramid like a spider's web. The four sides of the pyramid began to separate and descend to the ground, opening up the ceiling. Holding Elina tighter, Albus pushed his broomstick out the top of the pyramid.

"_Colloportus!" _The sides of the pyramid quickly rose back up, locking the other racers inside of it.

Keeping close to the ground, Albus followed the next glowing arrow. It seemed that his new destination was the lakeshore. Before he could set course for it, Elina jumped off his broomstick.

"ELINA!" Albus shouted, shocked.

"I'm fine!" said Elina, coming to a rolling stop on the ground. "You don't need me to be deadweight! Go! Win for me!"

Albus nodded and continued, his heart fluttering madly in his chest. What he really wanted to do was to seize her around the waist and kiss her for a while, but he had other concerns—namely, winning the race. He hurtled past more stacks of blocks and balls that barreled around the grounds. He was nearing the lake now—

"_Stupefy_!" shouted a familiar voice.

Albus whirled around to see a red hat peeking out from behind some blocks. A moment later, the head that the hat belonged to popped out, and Albus saw that it was Scorpius. "How's it going?" asked Scorpius, smirking before he sent a nonverbal spell at Albus, who barely managed to dodge it.

Another head with a red hat popped out beside Scorpius, this one with wild orange curls. Rose let out a shriek of glee and yelled, "_Impedimenta_!"

"Traitors!" said Albus, grinning. He said, "_Urgeo!" _causing the blocks to teeter and fall as if they'd been given a hard push. The blocks tumbled onto Rose and Scorpius, who were buried underneath.

"You're such a cheater!" Rose mumbled from beneath.

"Such is the way of a Slytherin," Scorpius groaned. "I should've expected it."

Laughing, Albus reached the lakeshore. Over the water stood hundreds of hoops—hoops of fire, hoops of ice, hoops of water. These hoops rotated at a shocking speed, making it hard to determine a pattern. To survive this stretch, the racer would have to have fast reflexes.

_Bring it on, _thought Albus, analyzing the possible routes he could take. He just had to wait for another second, and a line of hoops would overlap, allowing him to go through without stopping. The time had to precisely right—

Albus and his broomstick were blasted into the nearest wall of blocks by a nonverbal Impediment Jinx. His vision spinning, Albus looked up to see a hazy James looming above him.

"What are you playing at?" Albus hollered. "I'm on your team!"

"Really?" said James, shrugging innocently. "Last I remembered, I never allowed any Slytherins to join my team."

Albus spat out a string of swear words and steadied himself on his broomstick, but it was too late. James was already off, darting through the hoops without stopping, taking the perfect opportunity to leave Albus in the dust.

"_ACCELERO_!" Albus shouted, pointing his wand at his broomstick. He shot towards James with the speed of a bullet, quickly catching up with him.

James, furious, sent back five successive hexes at Albus, who spiraled to dodge them. Before James could dish out some more, the hoops flickered and disappeared at the worst possible time. James crashed straight into one and spun away from it, his robes on fire, while Albus shattered a hoop made of ice and nearly tumbled off his broomstick. James recovered quickly, dousing his robes with water from the lake. "_Stupefy_!" he roared, shooting a spell at Albus with ferocious speed.

Albus barely dodged it and cried, "_Melofors_!"

"_Impedimenta_!" James's jinx nearly caused Albus to smash into another invisible hoop, but he caught himself in time.

"_Adfigo_!" Pins shot out of the tip of Albus's wand, heading straight towards James, who was flying so fast that he was a blur. The pins smacked into one of the invisible hoops and fell into the lake, and James was unharmed.

"_Ardere_!" A jet of fire erupted from the top of James's wand, but neither of them had to worry about it, because, at that very moment, they both crashed into the same hoop and were knocked off balance. Flailing wildly, both they and their broomsticks dropped like anvils, impacting the water with two great splashes that caused ripples to spread throughout the lake.

Albus thrashed blindly, trying to get ahold of his broomstick. He found it floating a few feet away from him and started to swim towards it, but found his way blocked by James. Letting out a low growl, Albus pushed his brother away as harshly as he could, but James stayed put like a stone. When he was sure that Albus could not move, he made his own way towards the broomstick. Murderous, Albus leapt at his brother, momentarily forgetting that he was in deep water. He threw all his weight on James, trying to push him under. James retaliated so quickly that Albus was taken unawares. It was his turn to breathe in water as James pushed his head underneath. Incensed, Albus reached up and dragged James down with him, keeping a vice-like grip on his robes. Desperate for air, James had no choice but to kick for the surface, Albus trailing behind him. Both boys' heads broke the surface, and they gasped for air for a few moments before locking gazes filled with loathing.

"I'm not going to let you win!" James snarled, swinging a punch at Albus.

Albus ducked underneath the surface to dodge the fist and kicked James's shins. James bobbed away, still fighting to keep his head above the surface. Albus popped back up and glared through his wet glasses at a blurry James.

"You have _serious_ issues," sneered Albus, curling his lip. "Of course, if I were as stupid and useless as you, I'd have them, too."

James let out a roar of fury. For one tense moment, Albus thought that his brother was going to tear his throat out with his teeth. But instead, James began to swim towards the broomstick. Before Albus could act, James had climbed on it and was hovering a few inches above the water, using his wand to dry the broomstick. Angry that he had been beat, Albus quickly swam towards the second broomstick and pulled himself on, but it was too late. James had already whizzed away.

Albus rose into the sky like a rocket and shot off after his brother, bombarding James with as many spells as he could. Narrowing his eyes against the spray from the lake, Albus zoomed through the hoops—which had turned visible again during his and James's brief brawl—without stopping once, the only thought in his mind to take James down and win the race for Team Golden himself.

By pushing his broomstick to the limit, Albus managed to catch up with James. He knew that he was a faster flier than James, and he was right. Both of them, neck and neck, had finished flying across the lake and were now on the final stretch to the front doors to the school—which was the finish line. They were both currently in first place, the rest of the racers ages behind them. It was up to this. Whoever won would not only snatch victory for Team Golden, but also for himself. It would be a victory that his brother didn't have, and Albus was determined to make the score: Albus—1 and James—0.

A high wall of blocks was looming in front of them, and Albus and James both swerved in opposite directions to avoid it. Getting ready to shift back to his original position, Albus turned his broomstick slightly to the left, but found that it was not obeying his instructions.

It was acting of its own accord, and was currently completely out of control. The broomstick began to thrash around in a crazed manner, as if it were trying to tie itself into a knot. All Albus could do was desperately cling on and hope that the broomstick regained control of itself. What was going on, though? Why was his broomstick not functioning properly? These broomsticks were new, and should have been in top condition. Could someone from one of the other teams have tried to sabotage Team Golden's chances by jinxing his broomstick? _No, _thought Albus. _That kind of magic is too advanced for students. It must have been an adult wizard._ But who else had had access to the brooms? Albus ran all the possibilities through his head as he hung on for dear life: the manufacturer, the employees that had bundled up the broomsticks, the wizards that had transported them to Hogwarts, and the staff members...

The broom gave a particularly wild lurch, and Albus was thrown off. He teetered on his seat for a split second before he felt himself falling to the ground. The impact would have broken several bones if the ground hadn't broken his fall by being so mushy.

Albus felt a sick feeling stirring in his stomach. Muddy ground when it was supposed to be hard-packed dirt...muddy incidents that he had experienced before...muddy..._earthy_.

Albus's guess was right on the spot. The ground's grip on him tightened around his wrists and legs, binding him so tight that he didn't have air to breathe. The mud was bubbling around him like liquid, slowly sucking him under like it had done in Diagon Alley. He tried to break free, but it would not release him. He wished that someone would fly over and find him, but he had fallen right behind the wall of blocks at an inconvenient location where he was hidden from everyone else.

"Wh—what do you want with me?" he choked out, gasping for breath. He didn't quite know to whom he was speaking, but he knew that he was being listened to.

The ground began to rumble slightly as a figure rose from it, one decked in a pitch-black cloak. Wild curls blew in front of the golden eyes as a powerful gust of wind buffeted through the racecourse. Those eyes shone with hateful determination as they glared down at their victim—a scrawny thirteen-year-old boy who was flailing around, desperately trying to break free.

"_You know what I want," _whispered Rayan Lyserian, the features of his face twisting into a leer.

_Kill me then, _thought Albus. He didn't want to risk opening his mouth to speak, but he had a feeling that Rayan Lyserian could understand him just fine. _Why are you waiting? Why haven't you killed me yet? Are you here to _test_ me instead?_

"_They said you were cleverer than I could have ever predicted._" The leer was still on Lyserian's cruel face. _"They were right."_

Albus fought ferociously, splashing mud around. He wasn't going to take part in this test—whatever it was. He wanted out of this. He wanted Rayan Lyserian dead, and he wanted to be the one to do it.

Rayan Lyserian leaned up close. "_A test is correct, but you will be killed in the end."_

Albus's eyes shone emerald green. There was something terribly, awfully, horrifyingly _inhuman_ about them when they glowed—as if they were eyes that belonged to a different species altogether—no, a different _level_ of creature itself.

"_How high will you score, Albus Severus Potter, before the test ends—with your life along with it? How high do you think? Tell me. I predict full marks."_

The glow around Albus began to pulse like it was collecting energy from around it. The air seemed to crackle with power, like the power was being sucked out from it as the glow around Albus brightened.

Then, completely without warning, something changed in Rayan Lyserian's expression. It was if a new face had been switched with his, one that was more worried than cruel. The golden eyes melted into nothingness and were replaced with a warm, chocolaty brown while the deathly pale skin was eaten up by dark brown skin. A moment later, the transformation was complete. A man—one very different from the ruthless Rayan Lyserian—was staring down at Albus.

"_Fight back, Final Paradox," _breathed the man that was _not_ Rayan Lyserian. A swift wave of his hand made the mud release its grip on Albus, and Albus could finally breathe again. The green glow died from his eyes and was replaced by pure shock.

"Who are _you_?" he spluttered, stumbling up and staring at the man.

"_His two sides battle for dominance," _said the man. He seemed possessed, and his eyes turned a milky white as if he had suddenly turned blind. "_Upon truth's touch, the two sides will separate and be set free..."_

Albus took a step back, horrified. A white glow was now surrounding the man, and strands of it were crisscrossing around him like the strands of a spider's web. And if that wasn't enough—the face changed again. It returned to the cold, hateful one of Rayan Lyserian, and the eyes turned back to a blazing golden.

"_Get away," _Rayan Lyserian snarled. He wasn't speaking to Albus, though. He was speaking to himself—or was he speaking to the other man that had temporarily taken his place? "_You will not win. I have taken control of this body now. You might have let the boy escape, but _you_ will never break away." _The glow around Rayan Lyserian changed from white to black, as if the strands had turned from good to evil, from light to smoke. With a flash of darkness, the man was gone, leaving nothing but the normal hard-packed dirt in his place.

Albus stood there, stunned. Before he could react properly, a great cheer broke out from the front of the school. He seized his broomstick—which was now tame again—and rose up above the blocks to see a wave of of students wearing golden hats were running towards the lone figure at the finish line.

A spark of fury ignited inside Albus. James had won, and was holding a golden trophy high above his head. The members of Team Golden began to scream with joy and jumped up and down, clapping hands with James and hugging him. Even from a distance, Elina was unmistakable. She practically threw herself into James's arms, making Albus feel sick.

Covered head to toe in mud and exhausted, Albus made his slow way to the finish line. James grinned triumphantly at him as he approached, but the gloating grin slid off his face to be replaced with shock when he noticed Albus's bedraggled appearance. Elina detached herself from James and turned around, a bright smile on her face to greet him. It, too, disappeared when she caught sight of him. When he reached the finish line, he tumbled off his broomstick and lay on the ground, clutching his stomach. His head was throbbing, and he felt like retching. The world spun around him as he looked up at it.

Elina tentatively neared him, as if she were afraid that he would turn into a mud monster. She kneeled down next to him and gently touched him on the shoulder.

"Um... Al, _where_ have you been?"


	10. Horrors of Halloween

**Author's Note: Hello all! Thanks for all the reviews/favorites/follows! They are much appreciated! Sadly, I have some bad news: Next weekend, I'm moving homes. Why am I telling you this random piece of my personal life? Because there'll be no internet connection while my family and I settle in, and even if we get it set up, there won't be any time to update. So there won't be any update next weekend. I'm REALLY sorry. I even threw a tantrum about this stupid move (across the entire state, might I add), and that there doesn't even do justice to how mad I was.**

**But the good thing is that this is a HUGE chapter, so maybe that'll make up for it. **

* * *

**-Chapter Ten-**

**Horrors of Halloween**

Albus stumbled to the changing rooms in a daze. The rest of the members of Team Golden were celebrating outside, overjoyed with their victory, but Albus couldn't make himself care. All he wanted to do was to change out of these muddy clothes, go back to the dungeons, and collapse on his bed to think about what had happened on the racecourse.

Rayan Lyserian had confirmed that he was testing Albus, and had told him that his life would end when the test ended. But then, something else had taken over Rayan Lyserian—a different side of him. The skin had turned brown—really like earth—and the eyes dark. Then Rayan Lyserian had taken over again, and said that the other man would never break away. Then they had both gone. But Albus couldn't stop replaying the new man's—the brown-skinned one's—words. '_His two sides battle for dominance. Upon truth's touch, the two sides will separate and be set free...'_ Upon truth's touch? What did that mean? And this new man had called Albus the Final Paradox... what was _that_ supposed to be? The Paradox was Cryptan. There couldn't be second one—a final one—and it couldn't be _Albus_, right?

He felt bile rising up his throat. _Just stop thinking about it._ He made his way to the sinks on the opposite walls of the lockers and flicked his wand to get the sink to expel a burst of water. He was too exhausted to splash water on his face, so he simply dunked his head in it. A moment later, he resurfaced and gazed at the mirror. A scrawny thirteen-year-old with too many freckles but an otherwise plain and unflattering—at he least _he_ thought so—face gloomily stared back at him.

Groaning, Albus submerged his head in the sink water again, halfheartedly trying to drown himself. Before he could, however, a soft voice spoke from behind him.

"Al, _what_ are you doing?"

He jumped about three feet in the air and nearly bonked his head on the mirror. He whirled around, his face reddening rapidly. Elina, her golden hat no longer on, was walking towards him, looking concerned.

Albus's heart started to perform a familiar bizarre tap-dancing routine. "Er—Elina! What are you doing in the boys' changing rooms? How did you get in?" He looked around furtively and was relieved to see that there was no one else with them.

"There aren't any wards against girls anywhere in the school. The Founders were pretty trusting of them," said Elina distractedly, still looking closely at him. "Anyways, I came to check up on you. You looked...er..._not well_ when you came back at the end of the race."

"Yeah. I fell," said Albus. "Really badly. And then I got stuck." It _was_ the truth—just not all of it. Just then, he remembered that his broomstick had started bucking. Someone had charmed it—and that someone must have been Rayan Lyserian, who had clearly wanted Albus on the ground before he attacked. But how had he gotten his hands on it?

Albus was jerked out of his thoughts at Elina's next words. "You're in covered in mud," she noticed, looking him up and down.

He desperately tried not to blush. "Y-Yeah. Sorry about that."

"Why are you dunking your head in the sink? The mud isn't going to come off until you scrub at it," said Elina matter-of-factly as she walked over to the stack of towels (that magically regenerated and cleaned themselves) and picked one up. She walked back to him and wet the towel, running it under warm water. Then she reached up, standing up on her tiptoes to reach his face, and began to wipe it. Albus gave a small jump at the touch of the towel. He was finding it difficult to breathe due to the fact that she was so close. He could feel her sweet breath on his face as she gently scraped the mud off.

Albus wasn't sure how long he stood there, enjoying the feeling, but Elina finally finished up dabbing at his face and put the towel away. "You're okay, right? You didn't break anything or scratch anything, right?"

Albus shook his head. "I'm all right. I just fell." _And was attacked by an assassin—with two faces—who's going to kill me._

Elina bit her lip, looking as if she didn't quite believe him. "Are you sure? I mean, a bunch of people fell, but they didn't come in covered head to toe in mud. Where was it so wet, anyways?"

Albus gulped, wondering how she had seen through his lie so easily. He could tell her, but he didn't want to worry her, or scare her. He decided to simply shrug. "I'm—er—really, _really_ clumsy?"

"Okay, fine," said Elina, giggling slightly. "Let's just go with that, then." She looked him up and down again. "Your clothes are still muddy and everything."

"Yeah." Albus ran a hand through his hair nervously. "I'll fix it—_scourgify_!" All the mud from his clothes and skin disappeared.

Elina's mouth dropped open, and she crossed her arms. "_What_?" she huffed, looking extremely annoyed. "I had to do all of that when you could have done it in three seconds with a spell? Why did you wait until now to use it?"

Albus went beet red. He would have to have been insane to say no to Elina touching his face—even if it was with a magical towel. He half wanted to cover himself in mud again. Next time, he'd bury himself alive. "Er—I-I—er—didn't think of it until now."

Elina sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. "Fine. Anyways, I've got to be getting back. It's technically against the rules to be in the boys' changing rooms," she said. After giving him a small smile, she walked in the direction of the door, clearly wanting to leave to join Team Golden's party.

"Wait a moment!" said Albus, remembering something James had said before the race. James had been taunting him and had told him that he had kissed Elina before. Had he really? The only way to confirm it was to ask Elina. Albus gulped, not sure if he even wanted to know. What if it was true? What if Elina was only playing with him?

Before Albus could even think through the pros and the cons, he blurted out, "Did you kiss James before?"

Elina stared at him blankly, and a blush rose up her cheeks.

Albus's heart sunk and took up residence somewhere near his ankles. "You did."

Elina snapped back to life. She began to splutter. "I-It was ages and ages and ages ago!" she blabbered. "First year! It didn't mean anything! Nothing at all! James is just a friend! I'm serious! I told him that I wasn't interested in him that way! We're just close friends!"

_Close friends who snogged, _thought Albus, hurt.

Elina looked as miserable as he felt. "Come on!" she insisted, now irritated. "I wasn't even the one who started it! It was the other way around! James kissed me out of nowhere! I didn't even kiss him back! It didn't count! Nuh-uh! My lip virginity is still intact!"

Albus felt much better all of a sudden. "Lip virginity?" he chuckled.

Elina blushed. "Well, what else should I call it? Point is, I haven't kissed anybody."

"But someone kissed you," said Albus, though he was still grinning. "And isn't it essentially the same thing?"

Elina glared at him. "Oh, fine then! Get all technical on me! I bet you've been kissed or kissed a girl on the lips!"

"Actually, no," admitted Albus, sheepish. _Why_ was he talking about this to her? It was possibly the worst conversation to have with a girl he fancied. The air was thick with awkwardness, but the tension was broken by a small giggle from Elina. A second later, they were both laughing their heads off.

* * *

Hogwarts the next day was energized and excited. The Halloween Carnival was on Thursday, and it was a celebration so big that classes would be let out early that day. Unlike his mother had predicted that summer, it was _not_ a ball and had little to do with getting dates. Instead, it was a party or, like it was named, a carnival. There were going to be games, contests, and even magical Haunted Houses. Everyone was supposed to be in a costume, too. Hogwarts had never before had such a huge celebration, and Albus suspected that the staff was outdoing itself for the Colorful Competition. And so, for the few days leading up to the Thursday, the entire school was gossiping about what would be at the carnival and what costumes they'd wear for it.

Albus, on the other hand, had more pressing issues—such as the assassin that was hot on his tail. After the broomstick race, he went straight to the Owlery to write a letter to his father.

_Dad—_

_We had our first event yesterday. Since everyone was so busy with it, there were no Aurors on the scene. That was definitely the perfect time to attack, wasn't it? Apparently, Rayan Lyserian thought so, because he did. But I don't think I would have been in any danger if my broomstick hadn't bucked me off. Has anyone had access to the materials used for the Colorful Competition? Rayan Lyserian's obviously the one who cursed the broomstick, but I don't know how he could have gotten his hands on it, or made sure that_ I_ got the cursed one instead of somebody else. Anyways, Rayan Lyserian said that he's testing me, and that he'll kill me when the test is over. I don't know how much time I've got left until he's serious, but he only seems to be playing with me now. After that, something really strange happened. His face seemed to melt into another face—one that was brown with black eyes. The second face said something that made me think that Rayan Lyserian has two sides. Do you know anything more about this?_

—_Al_

_P.S. Since the Firebolt's gone, I need another broomstick for the Slytherin versus Hufflepuff match coming up in a few months. Practice is getting a little difficult with those ancient brooms that the school has. Can you send me one—a nice one? _

Albus reread his letter, hoping that his words were emanating calmness. He didn't want his father to worry. Once he had deemed it passable, he tied it to his owl Herwina's leg and sent her off. "Make sure Mum and Dad don't worry," he had enough to time to say to her before she leapt out into the sky.

Feeling as though his stomach had flown out with Herwina, Albus trudged back to the dungeons. Before he could get there, a flash of dark red hair clouded his vision. "AL! AL! Oh, Al, it's _terrible_!" It was Lily, and she looked positively anguished.

"What?" Albus groaned. "Do you not have a costume for the stupid carnival or something?"

Lily gave him a nasty look. "No! It's worse than even that! Crookshanks is gone! Completely gone!"

Albus rolled his eyes and threw his hands up into the air. "He went hunting for a couple of mice. He'll be back in about, hmm, let's see—_five minutes_."

"No, he won't!" Lily insisted, stamping her foot on the ground, evidently frustrated that he wouldn't listen to her. "He's been missing for over a week!"

Albus ran a hand through his hair, irritated. "I don't care, Lily. He's probably fine. Maybe he got tired of you or something."

Instead of looking downcast, Lily looked delighted. "I knew you wouldn't agree to come with me. So I took the precaution of asking Elina to help first. I told her that you'd be coming, too. She'll probably be very disappointed that you didn't help. She'll think a lot less of you." Lily cackled evilly at the dumbstruck expression on her brother's face.

Albus groaned, wondering why Lily hadn't been in Slytherin with her talent at blackmailing. If Elina would find out that he had refused to help his sister, she'd most certainly be disappointed in his selfishness.

He was trapped.

* * *

_Why, _thought Albus exasperatedly twenty minutes later, _am I searching for a stupid cat in the middle of bloody nowhere? _He still couldn't figure out how he had gotten suckered into doing this, but made a mental note to steal Crookshanks later and throw him into a pond to get back at Lily for being such a bully. At least there was some small silver lining in this—Elina was there, too.

"Where did you last see him?" Elina was asking Lily as she, Lily, Hugo, and Albus wandered aimlessly around the Hogwarts grounds.

"I don't know! In my dormitory or something!" Lily wailed. "He likes to come out by the lake sometimes?" She said it as a question.

"The lake, you say?" snapped Hugo. He, like Albus, had not wanted to come, either, and had also been blackmailed by Lily. "That's a _great_ explanation. _Very_ detailed and helpful. Why am I wasting my time? I was in the middle of reading a book on a goblin wars! Page six-hundred-and-sixty-six!"

"At least that's a number that's easy to remember," said Elina consolingly. "Anyways, we have to find Crookshanks. It would be terrible if he got lost." She seemed to be the only one who had willingly come to help Lily on this wild gnome chase, genuinely horrified at the thought that an animal out there could be hurt.

Albus stared at her fondly, unable to take his eyes of her. Not watching the ground, he tripped clean over a large rock and went sprawling onto the ground.

"Are you okay?" Elina gasped, kneeling down to help him up.

Albus wanted to die right there and then. Eventually, he composed himself and stood up, not accepting her help. He didn't want to seem weak. Elina shrugged it off and continued to lead the search for Crookshanks, even calling his name. Lily was staring after Elina with a look of awe on her face, and kept complimenting her.

"Really, she's like the big sister I never had," cooed Lily, jumping up and down in joy as Elina peered behind a pile of boulders. "You and James ought to learn from her! She's amazing!"

Elina beamed, her face lighting up. "Really?" she said, turning a pleasant shade of pink.

"Yup," chirped Lily. "Let's make you an honorary sister!" Suddenly, she giggled. "Oh, maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea. After all, you wouldn't be able to marry Albus or James and they'd be _very_ disappointed—"

"SHUT UP, LILY!" Albus wailed while his sister laughed hysterically and Elina turned red.

"CAN WE PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT NONSENSE AND FIND THE BLOODY CAT, PLEASE?" Hugo bellowed at the top of his voice, stamping his foot.

"All right, all right," said Elina soothingly. A moment later, she winked at Albus.

Albus blushed and nearly fell over again, distracted. For the first time, he found himself wishing that she wasn't there so that he and Hugo could strangle Lily without there being any witnesses.

"Let's try near the Whomping Willow," Elina suggested, tucking a strand of her light brown hair behind her ear, and then gesturing vaguely towards the violent tree.

Albus found himself admiring her curves, and a feeling of desire rushed through him. He had the sudden, insane urge to touch something he shouldn't.

_Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. DANGEROUS TERRITORY. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. _

He took several steps backwards and tripped a third time, this time crashing into an incensed Hugo, whose mood was worsening with every minute.

"OI! Watch it!" he barked, glowering at Albus.

"S-S-Sorry." Albus tried to look anywhere but at Elina.

The small search party of four started in the direction of the Whomping Willow, Elina and Lily still leading enthusiastically. "I'll go behind the tree and check there, and—"

"It's dangerous there," said Albus quickly. The Whomping Willow might hit you. I'll come."

Elina sighed, looking exasperated. "Al, I'm not made of glass. I'm not going to walk straight into the trunk of the tree, silly."

"I know," said Albus sheepishly. "But still—"

"I'll be fine," Elina pressed. "You take the left side, Al. Hugo, you take the right. Lily, you take the front here. Let's go. Stay away from the branches, everybody."

They circled the tree, their eyes peeled for any sign of white fur that meant that Crookshanks was here. Albus, however, kept one eye on Elina at all times, making sure that she wasn't in any danger. One time, she treaded perilously close to one of the roots, and Albus practically threw himself forward and yanked her back.

"What was that for?" she spluttered, looking shocked at his sudden loss of control.

"You got too close..." Albus trailed off stupidly, blushed, and got away from her as quickly as he could so that she wouldn't be able to see the embarrassment emanating off of him in waves. A few minutes later, their search came up empty handed, and after the Whomping Willow made a few violent advances towards Elina, Albus had quite had enough. They decided to move onto the area around Hagrid's hut and checked behind the enormous pumpkins, which were now roughly the size of his hut, but still found no white cat amongst all the orange.

"Crookshanks should've had black fur," grumbled Hugo. "He's bad luck. It would've fit with the whole Halloween theme, too."

"I'm going to be dressing as a fairy for the carnival," squealed Lily, clapping her hands together. She didn't seem as worried about Crookshanks as she had been before. Albus found himself wondering whether she really even cared.

"A fairy? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. What are you, five?" Hugo snorted. "I'm not going. It's a waste of time, and I'd rather read. I also want to work out my strategy for the Wizarding Chess tournament that's coming up soon."

Lily coughed something into the crook of her elbow that sounded a lot like "_Nerd_!"

"Shut up," said Hugo, giving her a nasty look.

"Okay, _okay_," said Lily, putting her hands up in the air in a gesture of surrender. They continued to scour the grounds, but still couldn't see any trace of Crookshanks.

Thankfully, Elina decided to put her foot down in the end. "I have class in ten minutes," she said sadly. "We'll have to continue this later. After dinner, maybe?"

"Just you wait," said Hugo, rolling his eyes. "Crookshanks'll turn up in Lily's dormitory the moment she gets there."

Lily, though, didn't seem to agree and was sniffling loudly. "W—wh-what if he's d-dead?" she wailed.

Elina put a soothing arm around her while Albus and Hugo snickered at Lily's dramatics behind her back. "Lily, it'll be okay. Crooshanks'll be fine. I promise. We'll find him, and I won't stop until we do."

Albus and Hugo both groaned, but stopped when they noticed something that made their breaths catch in their throats: the Whomping Willow. It had stopped moving, had completely frozen, as if a cold breeze cold enough to turn it into ice had passed by. There wasn't even any rustling of leaves, and every single twig on it was still and silent.

"What's going on?" spluttered Lily, who had noticed it, too.

Then, from within the tangles and twists of the roots, came a soft, furry white figure—a cat. Crookshanks the II crawled over the roots and padded towards them, something hanging from its mouth. It moved up to Lily and began to nuzzle her legs, and she reached down to scratch his ears. Albus, however, was more interested in what Crookshanks was holding in his mouth. He kneeled down and prized it from the cat's grip, then examined it.

It seemed to be a piece of a brown cloak of sorts, until Albus took a closer look and saw that it was made out of earth. It disintegrated into dirt at his touch.

* * *

To Albus's horror, the Hogwarts Halloween Carnival was upon them. All of a sudden, everyone's favorite topic was what they were going to wear or what was going to be the entertainment. People were getting packages that contained magically altered costumes and bags of candy, and those who weren't getting them from home ordered them by owl. Some wanted to wear matching costumes, others wanted to win the prize of Best Costume and Most Original Costume, and still others wanted to win Best Group Costumes. Lily was dressing as something horribly girly and childish—a fairy, while Rose was deciding between something fierce, like a female sailor or warrior. Albus had asked Elina what she was going as, but she had told him that it was a secret. James, too, was keeping his costume a secret, and had persisted in doing so, even against a gaggle of girls who were begging him to show off some of his chest as part of the costume. (Albus had felt like retching upon hearing this.) Hugo, though, had made plans to ditch the whole carnival, which he deemed was for "uncivilized, unsophisticated party animals," so he could get caught up in reading his deadly-boring goblin rebellion book and practice for his Wizarding Chess tournament. Scorpius was still ill-tempered about the possibility of Rose and Derlwin getting together and had not made any plans at all, while Albus had gotten a rather awful knight costume in the mail from his mother, but had immediately chucked it into the nearest rubbish bin.

After all, he had far more important matters to think about. The moment that Crookshanks had given him the small piece of muddy cloak, he had been bent on figuring out where Crookshanks had gotten it. Albus knew that the piece of cloak belonged to Rayan Lyserian—he'd easily be able to recognize any part of the prisoner's appearance after so many close encounters with him. The real question was—why did Crookshanks II have it? Where was he getting it—from the Whomping Willow? But that didn't make sense! There was nothing secret about the Whomping Willow. It was just a very angry, very vicious tree.

_Where did that stupid cat get it, then? _Albus found himself thinking exasperatedly. He had even cornered Lily and begged her to let the cat out again so that Albus could track it, but Lily had refused point blank. Albus had even been desperate enough to ask Rose to give him the password to the Gryffindor tower so that he could seize the cat and throw it out himself, but Rose hadn't wanted to divulge the information to another House and hadn't been willing to steal the cat herself.

And so, grumpily, Albus stared into the bathroom mirror fifteen minutes before the Halloween Carnival was due to start and tried to figure out what he should do for a costume. There was no way on Earth he'd sink to the level of wearing a knight costume, and he was out of ideas.

Oswald entered the bathroom to check his reflection. He had real whiskers—no doubt a charm done by some older Slytherins for him—and was carefully stroking his furry black cat ears.

"Why are you wearing a girl's costume?" Albus asked, his mouth dropping open.

"It's not a girl costume!" Oswald protested, turning red. He turned his body from side to side to look at it from all angles.

"Why are you looking into the mirror like that? Hoping to be a fashion model?" added Albus, snorting. "And it's _definitely_ a girl's costume."

Oswald stalked out with a huff, apparently tired of hearing jabs at his masculinity.

Albus, despite his teasing of Oswald earlier, took a careful look in the mirror as well. He wanted to spend some time with Elina at the carnival, and it was necessary to make sure that his hair wasn't sticking out embarrassingly. (It was.)

Scorpius came into the bathroom next, his skull mask on lopsidedly with a hole cut in it so that his mouth was visible. He was easily recognizable as a Death Eater, even with the hole. Albus wondered if the mask was genuine and Scorpius had asked to borrow it from his father. "I'll keep it crooked. Looks scarier this way." Scorpius bared his teeth at the mirror, not looking even remotely scary.

Albus brainstormed more ideas about what he could dress as and quickly checked his watch. There were only five minutes left until they had to leave for the carnival. While Albus panicked, Scorpius made various expressions in the mirror, all of them creepier and more hilarious than the last. "The first years are going to piss in their pants when they look at me," declared Scorpius, striking one more strangled, bug-eyed pose. He seized a fake magical knife and plunged it into his head. "Excellent." Fake blood trickled from his scalp where the knife was embedded.

Albus decided to call it quits as Scorpius wrestled with the knife and put it into several different spots to compare which spot looked better.

"I'm going as a Muggle," said Albus blandly, going back into the dormitory to seize some of his Muggle clothes and change out of his school robes. It wasn't creative at all, only slightly more creative than the typical witch or wizard costume, but he really didn't even care anymore—not that he ever had.

Scorpius, who wasn't listening to Albus, seized a second fake knife and thrust it into his chest, right near his heart. Pleased with his appearance, he walked out of the bathroom and joined Albus on the way out of the common room and dungeons, which were decorated with giant spider webs. One of these webs was so big that Albus walked into it and was stuck for five minutes. He was rescued by an amused Scorpius, who had been laughing his head off the whole time that Albus had struggled in the web.

When they arrived at the Great Hall, their breaths were taken away. Glowing pumpkins floated in the air, illuminating the hall in ghostly light; real bats swooped around, occasionally causing unsuspecting first years to scream at the top of their voices and duck; the walls and floor were painted orange and a glittery black, making the whole hall seemed to look like a velvet blanket, and the sky ceiling depicted a full moon. In addition to this, about fifty booths had been set up all over the hall in haphazard rows, all of them games and activities of sorts.

Albus looked around blankly, quite overwhelmed. Was this really Hogwarts?

"Oi! You two!" Rose sauntered up to them. She was indeed wearing the promised female sailor costume and adjusted her hat as she stared at them. "Scorpius, you look like an idiot. Al, _what_ are you supposed to be?"

"A Muggle," stated Albus in a monotone voice.

Scorpius, however, wasn't retaliating. He was gawking at Rose, his mouth open so wide that it was in danger of touching the ground.

"What is it?" Rose asked, looking confused. "_Scorpy_!"

Albus pointedly waited for Scorpius to scold Rose for calling him 'Scorpy,' but he didn't do anything. Then Albus realized why Scorpius was so speechless. Rose's costume showed more skin than her usual clothes did, and it was this that Scorpius was staring at.

Albus let out a snicker while Scorpius went completely pink.

"There's a really cool game over there," said Rose, shrugging at Scorpius's muteness. "We should go check it out."

"Are you two friends again?" Albus found it necessary to ask as they walked towards the booth Rose had suggested.

Rose looked around at a still-stupefied Scorpius before whispering in Albus's ear: "I dunno, okay? I kind of wanted to make peace today, but he's not even talking to me! What's wrong with him?"

"Your costume," Albus muttered back innocently. "It's as modest as it usually is, is it?"

Rose smacked him on the arm. "You pervert!"

"Ow!" Albus cradled his stinging shoulder. "Hit _Scorpy_ over there, not me! I was just making a comment, okay? He's the one that's staring!"

"Wha—what?" Scorpius spluttered, embarrassed. "I-I'm not staring!" He looked anywhere but at Rose as if to prove his point.

Albus sighed and walked up to the booth. A house-elf was manning it, its large brown eyes staring up at the three wizards. "Would sirs and mistress like to play?" it squeaked.

Albus scanned the inside of the booth. It featured a large, multicolored wheel that kept glittering and changing colors. "Spin the wheel and win a prize—if you is lucky!" squeaked the house-elf in answer to Albus's questioning look.

"It's really simple," said Rose, holding up some Blood Pops, a sugar quill, and a Ripping Ribbon. "I've already won three. A few more, and I'll have all my Christmas presents sorted out."

"There are special prizes as well," continued the house-elf in a high voice. "If you is lucky, you can get great prizes, too—such as tickets to the Quidditch World Cup coming up this summer!"

Scorpius looked very interested now. "Let's have a go," he said, pointing his wand at the wheel.

After five minutes, all of them had a stack of magical practical jokes and sweets in their arms, though none had won the Quidditch tickets. Waving good-bye to the house-elf, they made their way to the next booth, which featured a game having to do with jinxing balls to hit boards. The smaller the board, the greater the prize. Rose managed to hit the largest several times, and was rewarded a small stuffed toy of a Griffin. Scorpius earned a bag of sweets for hitting the middle-largest, and seemed fairly pleased with it. Albus, however, hit the smallest target straight on and won a giant version of the Griffin stuffed toy as well as a lifetime supply of sweets. Though staggering under the weight of the gigantic stuffed animal, he still managed to shove several of the sweets into his mouth.

Rose was glaring jealously at him. "Lucky."

"You can have the Griffin," said Albus quickly, gratefully chucking the life-sized toy at Rose, who screeched and fell over from the hit of the heavy stuffed animal.

After she had picked both herself and the stuffed Griffin up, they continued to several more booths. The farther they went, the larger the booths got, and the longer the lines. A few minutes in, Richie Red, who was pretty much James's servant, came bustling about with a large box in his hands. "Taking bets for the duel at halftime!" he called, rattling the contents of the box under various people's faces. "There's going to be an epic duel between Professor Moore and Professor Patil for our entertainment at halftime! But it's common knowledge that they _lurve_ each other! It's surely going to be dramatic and romantic! Who will chicken out and snog the other first? I'm taking bets! Bets here! You can earn loads, but only if you bet!"

Albus rolled his eyes, not amused. Richie and his friends were all decked in gorilla costumes, no doubt hoping to win the best Group Costume contest.

"I don't see what the costume is, really. You're primates all year round," sneered Albus, grabbing Rose and Scorpius and darting away before Red could figure out what he had said. They escaped to a booth that involved levitating bottles and causing them to do random tap-dance routines in the air, but before Albus could play, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Al! I was looking for you!"

Albus whirled around, his heart beating unnaturally fast. Behind him stood Elina, looking stunning. It was fairly simple to see at a glance what her costume was, but it was harder to tear his eyes away. She was a butterfly. Meter-long wings stretched out on either side of her, large, glittering, and magically color-changing. Her skirt, too, changed colors. In fact, everything about her was colorful. Albus found his eyes trailing down her very long, very nice, and very smooth legs...

His head snapped back up as he noticed that someone was standing behind Elina—a very familiar someone. It was James, and as Albus watched, he swung an arm around Elina's shoulders possessively. He fixed Albus with a threatening glare, and Albus sent it right back. A moment later, he realized that James wasn't wearing much of a costume—only Muggle clothes. However, these clothes were slightly more stylish than Albus's typical Muggle nerd outfit. Several girls were staring unabashedly at James's chest, muttering about how 'totally fit and hot' he was.

Albus scowled.

"Hey, Snivellus," said James, his voice ice-cold and unfriendly.

"Hey, Gryffindork," said Albus coolly, his own tone equally unwelcoming.

Elina looked a bit nervous. "Can we not call each other names, please?"

Albus and James considered her words. For some reason, one look into Elina's wide, pleading eyes made them both break down and give each other curt nods.

Elina, relieved that a war wasn't going to break out in front of her, said, "This is such a great idea, isn't it? Hogwarts hasn't ever had such an amazing celebration before, has it? This Colorful Competition has been fantastic, too."

"Oh, yeah," said James smoothly. "That was a really great win that I made during the first event. It was a fast shot straight towards the finish line. Nobody else came close."

Albus opened his mouth to say something biting—probably something having to do with the fact that _both_ he and Albus had been neck and neck for the front before Albus had been overtaken by a bucking broomstick and an assassin with two sides—but thought better of it and closed his mouth again.

"That was really amazing, James," said Elina genuinely, flashing him a smile.

James turned pink while Albus turned green.

"Looks like you won a bunch of prizes already," continued Elina, gesturing towards his basket full of an indefinite amount of sweets and the giant Griffin stuffed toy that Rose was panting under.

"Yeah," said Albus. "You?"

"Sure." Elina held up a few prank toys, some sweets, and a mini stuffed toy. "Want to hang out with me and some of my friends for the rest of the day, Al?" she added, giving him a bright smile that made him want to melt into a puddle of goo.

James looked close to retching while Albus jumped at the chance. "Yeah! Definitely!"

Scorpius groaned behind him and muttered something that sounded like, "Not as a date, you bloody stupid idiot. She said with her_ friends_, meaning Gryffindors. Get it? We're dead meat."

Scorpius was indeed right. Somehow, Albus had gotten stuck with spending the Halloween Carnival with Elina's friends, which included James and his gang. The air couldn't have been filled with more tension than it was now: James and Albus kept glaring at each other, and Scorpius and Derlwin kept glaring at each other; Rose was chatting merrily with Derlwin (who she seemed to have made up with despite their clashing opinions of Albus) while Scorpius looked away long enough from Derlwin to give her dirty looks; Elina was talking to both James and Albus, trying to instigate civil conversation between them, unaware that both of them were planning to throttle the other the moment she looked the other direction.

The two brothers were practically having a mental conversation with their eyes, mouthing insults, and making various rude gestures behind Elina's back while she talked on, but she wasn't noticing them. James was just explaining to Albus with a few descriptive gestures and nods that Albus should go boil his head and swallow rotten worms when Albus decided to block James out. Instead, he moved closer to Elina and gave her what he hoped was a handsome (and not lopsided) smile.

"Want to play that illusion game?" asked Albus, nodding his head towards a large booth where two people were battling it off with their wands, staring into a screen rather like a Muggle television which portrayed enemies and strange sceneries—except that it was a magical illusion.

"I'd love to," said Elina, skipping towards it. "But I warn you, I'm not going to go easy on you."

Albus laughed nervously. In contrast, he was certainly going to go easy on her. In fact, he'd probably be too busy staring at her to concentrate on the game anyways. Meanwhile, James was gritting his teeth. Before they could take their places at the booth to play, James stepped in front of Elina. "How about me and dear little _Al_ play each other instead?"

Albus blanched, and Elina shrugged. "Fine by me."

Albus took his position, and so did James next to him. "Begin!" squeaked the house-elf manning the booth.

Albus and James aimed their wands at the screen-like illusion, blasting various obstacles into dust and racing to get to the finish. Elina was watching, her face a bit pale as they exchanged challenging glares and nasty looks. Fortunately for her, their minds were taken off the game the moment the doors to the Great Hall opened.

In swept a beautiful woman wearing a gorgeous, floor length dark red dress. The way it flowed as she walked reminded Albus of rivers of blood. Her black hair was set in carefully done shiny curls, and her luminous and slightly unearthly golden eyes gazed around at the Great Hall, looking coolly satisfied about something. She made her way to the cluster of professors, her high-heeled red shoes clicking and clacking on the hard wood floor. Not a curl out of place, she approached the professors and a few Aurors (who were probably there to make sure that there was no trouble with Albus and the assassin that was after him), and said in a musical voice that seemed to echo around the whole hall, "What a wonderful Halloween celebration this is." The professors looked round at her, none of them able to take their eyes off her. "You have all really outdone yourselves this time. My superior, Mr. Edgeworth, requested that I come here to see how this carnival was going, and I'm glad that I decided to." She closed her eyes briefly, causing her very long, dark eyelashes to cover her pale cheeks for a moment before she opened them again. "This place looks simply stunning."

Headmaster Triton took the opportunity to suck up to her immediately. "You must be describing _yourself_, Reyna. You look ravishing, if I do say so myself." He leaned down to kiss her hand, and she gave a girlish giggle.

"You flatter me, Gale. I look nothing of the sort," she said, batting her eyelashes at him.

Everyone exchanged incredulous looks. The word 'ravishing' wasn't even enough to describe how good Reyna Lyserian looked that evening. She drew everyone's eye, and kept them on her.

"Well, get back to what you all were doing!" barked Sapienta, looking bad-tempered.

Albus turned back to the game, his head still spinning. Something about Reyna Lyserian's presence made him feel weak-kneed and dizzy, but not in the way that Elina did. Lyserian was terrifying, but he still felt a certain attraction towards her. And he had the sneaking suspicion that if he didn't do what she asked, she would sink his fangs into his neck and suck the life out of him... _Don't be an idiot, _thought Albus, shaking his head as if to warn off a fly. _She's not a vampire. She's really powerful and popular in the Ministry of Magic, and she's fighting against her brother. Why am I judging her unfairly for no reason?_

The game between him and James was declared a tie, and both brothers were awarded packets of sweets.

"Want a bit of this?" asked James, waving a chocolate bar from Honeyduke's in front of Elina's face.

Albus nearly tripped in trying to get to Elina first. "Forget James, Elina. Take some of _my_ chocolate."

Elina gulped. "I'll take both," she compromised, a determinedly calm smile on her face.

A few minutes before halftime—when the food would be served and they'd be treated to a troupe of dancing skeletons and (apparently) the star-crossed lovers Professors Moore and Patil would duel for entertainment (though neither was anywhere to be seen and were suspected to have escaped upstairs to a private room)—the group made their way towards the booth that had the ballot set up. "Vote for the person who you think should win!" squeaked the house-elf standing behind the counter of the booth. "Here are the slips of parchment, misters and mistresses." It handed them over, and Albus, Rose, Scorpius, Elina, James, Derlwin, and the rest of the popular Gryffindors bent over the slips of parchment to vote. For Best Costume, Albus voted for Elina. A quick look over at James's parchment confirmed that he, too, had voted for Elina. They pushed the slips into a slot in a gigantic jar.

"I voted for you for Best Costume," said both Albus and James at the same time, then giving each other death glares for daring to speak to her.

Elina paled again and laughed weakly to ease the tension. "Thanks." Albus put an arm around her shoulders, and James put an arm around her waist. Elina shook them off, looking quite shaken up herself. "Um...," she mumbled, her cheeks flushing pink. Both brothers turned red and shoved their hands into their pockets, then assumed a brooding position whilst they kicked at the ground moodily.

After voting, they sat down at one of the round tables. "There's not enough space for all of us," James complained. "Get the Slytherins out of here."

"We can enlarge it, can't we?" said Elina.

James pouted as he sat down at the magically enlarged table (which some older student had graciously fixed up for them). Halftime started, and they were given platefuls of Halloween-related food, including shepherd's pies in the shapes of pumpkins and magical bone candies that occasionally assembled themselves into the skeleton of some animal. While all the students and staff ate, a troupe of dancing multicolored skeletons came strutting into the hall. They proceeded to juggle their bones and throw them at the crowd. After thoroughly freaking out the first years but delighting the older students, the skeletons left the Great Hall to great applause. A rapper named ManDrake came on next, and then began to rap the latest hit song. Albus groaned and covered his ears, though the rest of the students rapped along. Singing sensation Fairyanna walked on next, and sang a sad song about being dumped by some bloke that had only liked her for the fame, then a more upbeat one about moving on and being much better off without him.

"Want to dance?" James shouted over the noise at Elina.

Albus went very white, and Elina blushed and looked quickly at Albus. "Oh—um—er—I don't know—"

But James wasn't hearing any of it, and he grabbed her by the hand and dragged her to the very middle of the huge mass of teenage witches and wizards to 'dance,' which consisted of bobbing their heads and jumping up and down while various fairies and floating pumpkins drifted over them, lighting up their faces. Rose and Derlwin, as well as the rest of the popular Gryffindors, joined them, making their way to the very middle of the crowd.

Albus and Scorpius sat on the edge alone, both in very bad moods.

"We suck," said Scorpius, banging his head on the table. "Really badly. We're the only ones not dancing."

"Not the only ones," said Albus, gesturing towards an out-of-place-looking Oswald in his ridiculously feminine cat costume.

Scorpius just raised his eyebrow, making it clear that he was not consoled in the slightest.

Albus took one look at James and Elina dancing and joined Scorpius in smacking his head on the table.

* * *

It was getting dark now, and the party had moved outside. A huge haunted house had been set up on the grounds, and people that had gotten tired of dancing had now gone to explore it. Most of them came out screaming at the top of their voices and hugging themselves, eyes wide and horrified, but this only encouraged more visitors.

Albus and Scorpius flopped down by the lakeshore, feeling lonely.

"Are we going to bachelors forever? Doomed to be the biggest losers in the school?" asked Scorpius, sighing dramatically.

"Yeah," agreed Albus, hopelessly running a hand through his already untidy hair.

At that moment, a tall, blond fourth-year Slytherin girl that Albus recognized as Petra Dylans came over to tap Scorpius on the shoulder. "Mind coming to dance with me, Scorpius?" she asked, her voice as gooey as honey.

Scorpius jumped at the chance and took Petra's hand. "Sure!" he said, shooting Rose, who was still dancing with Derlwin, a vicious look. "My pleasure." He winked at Petra, though he was still looking at Rose out of a corner of his eye.

"Bloody fantastic! Just leave me here alone to rot, then!" snapped Albus. When Scorpius didn't reply and went off with Petra, Albus groaned into the ground and wished that the stupid Halloween nightmare would end already. He was now on Oswald's level, which was_ below_ pitiful. Albus thought that a better name for this event would have been 'A Display of the Worst Horrors of Halloween'—_not_ the 'Halloween Carnival.'

He looked at James and Elina to see that they were laughing about something by the snack table. Having had enough, he strode towards them, now seriously annoyed enough to attempt to punch the infuriating handsomeness out of James's face.

"Having fun?" James sneered as Albus approached. He put an arm around Elina's shoulders, and though she looked uncomfortable and guilty, she didn't shrug it off. "Elina and I were just about to go into the Hogwarts Haunted House. But you might not want to come with us—since you'll probably faint like you do, hmm... let's see—about _every other day or so_."

Albus clenched his fists. "You just shut up!" he snarled, too furious (not to mention, exhausted from the sheer horror of the evening) to come up with a better comeback.

Elina looked between them again, biting her lip nervously. "Why don't we go the haunted house together?" she asked brightly, forcing a smile on her face.

_Putting James and me together will make it explode, _thought Albus dully. He was still determined to please Elina, though, and it seemed that James was, too. The three of them started towards the haunted house, Albus and James giving each other sullen looks. Elina seemed to have both of them wrapped around her finger, and Albus had the sneaking suspicion that if she were to ask them to jump off a cliff, they would both obey.

Fortunately, she didn't have time to ask anything of the sort. Out of nowhere came Reyna Lyserian, looking as immaculate as usual. She gave Albus a blinding white-toothed smile that contrasted wildly with her blood-red lips. He, James, and Elina froze and stared back at her nervously, waiting for her to speak. Her smile widened at their tense looks. "I just came here to discuss a few important matters with Mr. Albus Potter. You two can go on to the marvelous haunted house if you so desire"—she nodded at James and Elina—"but Albus, would you do me the pleasure of staying to talk?"

Albus wasn't happy about letting James and Elina go off into the haunted house alone, but one look into Lyserian's gorgeous but terrifying eyes made him change his mind. "Yes?" he asked levelly, trying not to show that his knees were weak and shaking.

"How was your evening? Are you having fun?" she said sweetly, gazing into his eyes. The moment that Albus focused on her golden orbs, pain exploded all over his body, causing him to double over with a gasp and a shudder.

"Are you okay?" Lyserian asked, helping him up.

He stared at her, so confused that he could barely think. His head was spinning and throbbing at the same time, and somehow, it had thrown all common sense out the window. Had it really been her who had caused him that pain? Albus couldn't believe it. She seemed so nice... so innocent... And suddenly, he wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to be able to trust her.

"Not having fun, then? Ah... the teenage years. Widely considered to be the armpit of life. I remember what a pain they were. Still, I'd love to hear of any problems you're having. So _tell me all of them_," Lyserian prompted, a sinister smile curling her beautiful face and a strange glint sparking to life in her unusually-colored irises.

"O-Okay," Albus agreed, feeling hypnotized by her huge twenty-four-karat gold eyes, which were no longer causing him pain. "I'll tell you _everything_."

Someone else suddenly grabbed Albus's shoulder. He jumped, surprised. Behind him was Athena Sapienta, and she was glaring at Lyserian with the utmost hatred. The two women, both beautiful and terrifying, faced each other. "Leave him alone," Sapienta hissed, taking out her wand and pointing it at Lyserian.

"I was just helping him," Lyserian said calmly, though her fist was clenched around her wand, too. "He's a sweet boy."

"Yeah... she was just helping me," Albus echoed with blank eyes.

"Get out of here, Lyserian," Sapienta snarled.

To Albus, Sapienta said severely, "Snap _out_ of it."

Lyserian, with one last look at Albus, swept off in the other direction, her red dress swishing behind her.

Albus blinked, and the spell seemed to break.

"W-What happened?" he asked. "W-Why did you ask her to go?"

"Potter—listen to me," said Sapienta urgently. "Tread carefully around Reyna Lyserian."

"Why?" Albus demanded. "She's nice. She understands me..."

"No," urged Sapienta. "She doesn't. Don't trust her. She's the kind of person who'll let a fairy out of a jar to give it hope that it might escape, only to catch it again and crush its dreams. She's evil and cruel, Albus."

"She's not," Albus insisted. "She can't be. She's going to be the Advisor to the Minister of Magic if Edgeworth wins the elections. T-They wouldn't have approved her if she wasn't trustworthy. And she's against her brother—I mean, half-brother—and everything."

"Things aren't as they seem. The Ministry is blind to her misdeeds, and the whole show about not supporting her brother is nothing but a front," said Sapienta gravely. "Wake up, because in reality, she's a merciless killer—a killer that truly _thirsts_ for blood."

"_What_?" Albus gasped, completely shocked.

Sapienta nodded stiffly. "And it seems that she's taken an interest in you. Watch out."

Before Albus could reply by asking for proof or more information, a strange smell reached his nose. A moment later, he realized it was smoke. He whirled around, his heart beating fast. Sapienta involuntarily breathed in and started to cough. A moment later, he found out why.

The haunted house in the middle of the grounds was on fire—but it wasn't any fire; it was a deadly black fire, blazing darkly and crackling coldly instead of warmly. In fact, it seemed to be sucking the very warmth out of the air, causing the breeze to be still and icy, as if it had frozen stiff. The haunted house began to disintegrate, planks and boards falling off, black fire overcoming every inch of them, consuming the building with unbelievable speed. Screams echoed around the grounds, and streams of students began to run out from the haunted house, trying to put out the black flames. The Aurors, who had evidently been waiting in the shadows of the party for the first sign of trouble, jumped to life. At their head, Albus recognized Tutterskope. They took out their wands with such speed that Albus would have missed it if he had blinked and began to fire spells at the haunted house. To their horror, nothing seemed to work on it. The fire continued to blaze on, quickly taking over the haunted house.

Sapienta seized Albus's arm and began to drag him away from the Aurors, but he wrenched away from her and ran ahead. Now that he was nearer, he could hear what they were saying.

"It's Dark Magic," said one of the Aurors, his voice set in a tone of forced calm.

"Do you really think so?" said Tutterskope sarcastically. "Of _course_ it's Dark Magic, Rigel! Nothing's working on it, either! In all my years, I haven't seen anything like it."

Suddenly, a realization hit Albus in the face like he had been splashed with ice-cold water. "Elina!" he shouted at the Aurors. "She's in the haunted house—I didn't see her run out with the others! And James!"

Tutterskope turned to face him. "We know there are still students stranded inside. Rigel, Doolite, get in there and evacuate. The rest of us will try to put it out."

"The lake!" said Albus suddenly, waving wildly in the direction of the Black Lake. "The water in the lake! If we could somehow levitate it—wait, that wouldn't work. The fire can't be put out with normal water. We've got to charm it somehow, make it so that it'll be strong enough to put out the black fire—"

"Potter, they'll figure it out," said Sapienta quickly. "You go back into the school with the rest of the students, where it's safe."

Albus completely ignored her. He followed the Aurors called Rigel and Doolite as they approached the Hogwarts Haunted House, which was burning to the ground. The black fire formed a ring around it, blocking their entry. Albus tried to run at it, but winced when the back of his hand brushed against it. It left an ugly black mark in the shape of a circle. When he brushed it, the skin that had been burned fell away like dirt.

What the _hell_ was this?

Unfortunately, before he could ponder the question or even nurse his smarting hand, Sapienta lunged out and grabbed him, dragging him away from the fire. "Potter! STAY AWAY!" she bellowed, struggling with him.

"Get—away—from—me!" said Albus furiously. "Don't you get it? I know who's doing it! It's Rayan Lyserian! This is another part of the Earth King's powers—it must be! And don't you understand that he's giving me a test? There's no other way, Professor!"

Sapienta looked frantic. "You're talking nonsense. What you're saying isn't logical, it just isn't realistic—"

"YES IT IS!" Albus roared. He tore away from her and stepped back up to the fire. The Aurors Doolite and Rigel were still circling the area, trying to find a weak link in the fire, but were turning up empty-handed.

Albus did as they did, but he was more daring. He'd dart out to touch to the fire, as if to sample where it was more dangerous. The blazing black flames were ice-cold and sometimes burning hot, but the pain was equal for both temperatures. Little circles had appeared all around his palms and the back of his hands, and when he brushed the circles, they fell apart as if the skin had turned to dirt, leaving red, raw skin behind.

"There's no way in!" snarled Rigel from Albus's right. "Potter! What do you think? Do you think it's Rayan Lyserian again?"

Albus nodded shortly and looked over his shoulder to see how Tutterskope and the other Aurors were doing. They were apparently trying to get reinforcements, because Patronuses—the most common form of contacting coworkers—were shooting out of various Aurors' wands. In addition to this, a few students had now gathered in front of the haunted house, but they were still trapped in the circle of fire. With a pang, Albus realized that James and Elina weren't among them. They were still stuck in the haunted house—maybe even the top floor of it.

Desperation now truly seizing him, Albus whipped out his wand and pointed it at the fire in front of him. Almost immediately, the symbols scratched into the blood-red wood of his wand lit up, glowing bright green. What seemed like green smoke drifted from its tip and through the fire, opening up a large porthole in it. Albus stared at his wand, unable to comprehend what it had just done. Doolite and Rigel, though surprised, jumped at the chance. They ran through the hole and urged the students trapped in the circle out of it. Once they were all out, Albus sprinted into the center of the circle, joining Doolite and Rigel.

The haunted house stood in front of them, barely able to keep itself upright. "I'll go up," said Albus, not taking his eyes off it.

Rigel and Doolite exchanged shocked looks. "You aren't allowed," said Rigel sternly. "Your father—"

"Yeah, well, I don't think that Dad expected this to happen, so too bad!" snapped Albus. "Don't you get it? Rayan Lyserian wants me to go to him! I bet you anything he's in that haunted house—_damn_ it! Elina's in there, too! And James! Is he keeping them captive? Damn, damn, damn!"

"This is for Aurors, Mr. Potter," said Rigel coldly. "You managed to break a hole in the circle of fire with your wand—however you managed that—and your help is appreciated, but you are nothing but a boy. It's too dangerous for you to continue into the haunted house. We'll go and get your friend and brother—"

Doolite, who had already started towards the haunted house, said, "We need the boy. There's more fire inside here. He's the only one who can break through it."

Rigel opened his mouth to protest, but Albus was already darting to Doolite. He halted outside the wooden doors to the haunted house, which the fire was burning away. Albus raised his wand, and the symbols on the wood of it glowed green again, sending exhilarating shocks through his whole body. The doors, too, glowed green, then blasted open.

Hoping that the scary magical decorations were deactivated, (he didn't need _more_ fear) he ran down the hallway, Rigel and Doolite hot on his heels. "ELINA! JAMES!" Albus shouted, looking around frantically.

The fire crackled more loudly, and the dark flames licked the walls and floors and ceiling. Albus's head was spinning. Where were they? Just then, he spotted a flight of stairs to his left. Not even sparing the two Aurors a glance, he scrambled up it, panting hard. The smoke was clouding his senses and choking him. It was a magical type of smoke, but it seemed to have been enchanted to have the same uncomfortable effects as real smoke. Hacking coughs emanating from him, Albus managed to reach the top floor. "ELINA! JAMES!" he called again, his voice tearing from the strain.

At last, he heard something—a faint noise coming from the hall down his left. "I can hear them!" he said excitedly to the Aurors. "Come on!" At that moment, the dark fire barred the way up the stairs, leaving the Aurors trapped on the steps. Albus cursed loudly and kicked the wall, which fell apart, the planks falling to a sorry heap near his feet.

"Can you hear us?" said Doolite from the stairs. There was a slightly panicked edge to his voice.

Albus was overcome by a coughing fit and resurfaced, his face covered with a strange dirt-like, brownish ash. Finally, he managed to force out in a pained, shaking voice, "Y-Y-Yeah. C-Can you come up?"

There were a few flashes of light from below. "No!" said Rigel, trying, and failing, to keep his voice calm. "We're stuck here, and none of our spells work!"

Albus cursed, using several choice swear words that probably made Rigel and Doolite wonder what his father was teaching him, then started to cough again. He got ahold of his wand and shakily pointed it at the barrier of fire. The symbols lit up again, and emerald green smoke drifted from the tip of the wand and tore open a hole in the fire, but it closed again just as fast as it had opened.

But before Albus could try again, he heard a voice emanating from the fire itself.

"_Time is running out for you, Albus Severus Potter. Soon, the Hogwarts Haunted House will fall, and you will fall with it. Face me."_

Albus froze. His heart was throwing itself against his ribcage as if trying to escape from its confines. He didn't give Rigel and Doolite a second look. He just ran down the left hallway, not stopping. He had heard noises coming from there, and he was sure that Elina and James were up here. His guess was right on the mark. The door at the end of the hallway was blocked by ceiling-high black flames, preventing anyone on the other side of the door to escape.

"ELINA! JAMES!" he roared, his voice hoarse from the ash and smoke. "CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

A desperate shout came from the other side of the door. "SOMEONE HELP!" It was James, and he sounded nothing short of hysteric.

"_AL_?" gasped another person—Elina—who had evidently recognized his voice no matter how hoarse it was.

Albus's heart wrenched at how scared she sounded. "Elina! It's me! I'm going to get in!"

"There's no point!" snapped James. "There's a giant fire, and I can't get rid of it—where are those damn Aurors that are supposed to be protecting you?"

"They can't get through, either," said Albus, trying to keep his voice calm for Elina's sake. "I'm the only one! Okay, I'm going to blast through, and I want you two to make a run downstairs. There are Aurors waiting there—" Albus paused, attempting to thaw an icy lump in his throat. There were sure to be fire barriers everywhere. "Never mind! Just—er—get out of there!"

"That would be great, if you could make yourself useful and GET US OUT!" James snarled from behind the door.

"I'M TRYING!" Albus snarled back.

"Can we not fight right now, _please_?" begged Elina, her voice shriller than usual.

Albus bit back a stinging retort to James, who was undoubtedly doing the same thing, and pointed his wand at the fire. The symbols lit up one by one, this time brighter than they had before. His face was illuminated in ghostly green light for a split second before a hole appeared in fire. Albus plunged through the hole and blasted the door open.

Behind it stood Elina and James, both looking unharmed but terrified. James let out a sigh of relief, but then started to cough again. "Blimey! This place—"

"Is going to fall down," finished Albus.

Elina grabbed Albus's arm. "H-How did you get up here if the Aurors couldn't?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"G-Good question," said Albus. "Uh..." He decided to dodge the subject. "The stairs are blocked, and for whatever reason I can't tear a hole in the fire long enough to get through. We're going to have to find another way through. There's got to be multiple exits. Let's look around."

"Great idea, except WE'RE GOING TO DIE, um, RIGHT NOW! Do you not see the, um, INSANE BLACK FIRE, um, RIGHT THERE?" James yelled at the top of his voice, looking furious. "Thanks for being such a great help, Snivelly snake! We were safer in that room—" James broke off and started to cough uncontrollably again.

Albus ignored him and turned to Elina. "W-Was there a window in that room?" he said, holding back a cough of his own.

"Yes!" she said, catching on quickly. "There was a window that bats kept scratching at when the haunted house was working properly. Do you think we could get out through there?"

Albus was already running into the room where Elina and James had been stuck in before Elina had even finished her sentence. They followed him, Elina looking hopeful and James looking spiteful.

"Okay, just great! JUST GREAT! We're going to throw ourselves out of a window! Great plan. Can you be more useless, please?" sneered James, apparently determined to be cruel to Albus even though they were inches away from death.

"James, if it wasn't for Al we'd be stuck in here with no way out!" said Elina.

"Oh, but guess what? WE'RE _STILL_ STUCK HERE!" James roared, aiming a kick at Albus.

Elina pushed them apart. "Stop it! Al's our best chance!"

After giving James one last filthy look, Albus pointed his wand at the window and said, _"Evanesco_!" The glass vanished.

"That's a sixth-year spell," said Elina, looking awed.

"STOP SHOWING OFF AND GET US OUT OF HERE, SNIVELLUS!" James yelled again.

"Elina, get out first," said Albus. "Use a Gliding Charm on your clothes or something and drift down—"

"I don't know how!" said Elina frantically. "That spell is so advanced that it's not even taught at Hogwarts!"

Albus tried to think of an alternate method, but before he could come up with one, a wall of fire appeared in front of the window, rising so high that they could not even see outside.

"That's it, we're done for," groaned James. He grabbed Elina's hand and made for the door while Albus tried in vain to break a hole through the fire. It was hopeless, though. The hole closed back up fast, not leaving him any time to scramble through it.

Swearing loudly again, Albus followed Elina and James out of the room. He nearly ran into them, and a moment later, he found out why. They were surrounded on all sides by black flames.

Could it get any worse? Despair overcame Albus like a suffocating blanket, overwhelming his thoughts. He took Elina's free hand, trying to take some small comfort from it. The three of them stood side by side, facing the barrier of dark fire, their faces set.

It _did_ get worse. The Hogwarts Haunted House began to rock back and forth as if it was being sucked into the ground. The floor shook, and the walls caved in as the haunted house began to fall in on itself.

"_Do what you need to save them." _A voice spoke to Albus alone, unheard by Elina and James. It was cold, sadistic voice, one that seemed pleased that Albus was about to die. "_This is a test of your powers. A test that you must pass in order for you to survive. What will you score?"_

Albus let out a snarl of frustration. "LET THEM GO!" he shouted between coughs. "TAKE ME, BUT LET _THEM_ GO!"

James and Elina stared at him. "Rayan Lyserian," whispered Elina, her eyes shining with unshed tears. She said it as a statement, not a question.

"Look what you did now! We're going to die, and it's all your fault!" said James hysterically.

It was James's words that sparked the flame of anger and determination in Albus. He closed his eyes, collecting all his strength, preparing to release it. When he next opened his eyes, the irises were glowing unnaturally. The rest of his body soon followed, glowing like a beacon among the dark fire. Elina and James looked both awed and terrified, as if they weren't sure whether to cling to him or get away from him.

Something seemed to have taken control of Albus. It was that same monstrous instinct. He stretched out both his arms on either side of him, barely aware of what he was doing. This cunning, combative side of him seemed to know what to do, though. He continued to stay calm even though the haunted house was sinking deeper into the ground. He made an obscure hand motion, as if trying to scoop up the air. The effect of this was not immediate, and from inside the haunted house it was hard to figure out what he had just done. But outside... the students, staff, and Aurors were gathering, shocked at what was happening before them. The water of the Black Lake had turned emerald green, as if there were a light shining beneath the surface. The enchanted water rose from the lake, great waves coming into existence, following Albus's hand motions. The waves were held suspended in the air, not touching the ground. Instead, they drifted over to the haunted house, still rolling and whirling around as if preparing to break out from the mental prison that Albus had trapped them in. He was reaching exhaustion point, but he held on, knowing that he was the only one who could do what had to be done. When the giant, strangely emerald green waves that were formed from the water of the Black Lake reached the Hogwarts Haunted House—which had been very, very short-lived—Albus released the waves, and they came crashing down on top of it, drenching it and dousing the black fire. The water flooded through every room in the haunted house, cleansing it. The weight of the water was too much for the wood of the haunted house, and it broke apart at last, tumbling down with the water.

Then the glow died from Albus, and he fell like a marionette that had just had its strings cut.

"_Well done." _The voice that had spoken to him earlier came again, barely reaching his throbbing ears.

Albus had no answer. He rode the waves of water that he himself had briefly controlled, letting them sweep him away into the merciful oblivion of unconsciousness.

* * *

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Sorry that there won't be an update next weekend, but after that the updating schedule will return to normal. (Updates every weekend in case you haven't realized it yet - usually Sunday) Please tell me what you thought of this giant chapter in a review!**


	11. The Mud Fight

**Author's Note: I AM NOT DEAD! Huzzah! Reasons for my epic failure at updating this will be given at the end of the chapter. In case you forgot what happened (don't be guilty, I forgot, too): During the Halloween Carnival, the haunted house was attacked by Rayan Lyserian. Freshened up your memory a little bit? Okay, let's get going!**

* * *

**-Chapter Eleven-**

**The Mud Fight**

Albus blinked open his eyes and was immediately assaulted by painfully bright lights. He groaned and closed his eyes again, trying to soothe his throbbing headache.

"Let's give him a Strengthening Draft so we can get him to tell us what happened," said a woman—Madam Pomfrey, perhaps?

"Very well, very well, Poppy, get him the potion," said a man in a cold, crisp voice.

"Edgeworth, please, can you leave? I want to speak to Al without you interrogating him," said a more familiar voice—the voice of Albus's father.

Edgeworth ignored him. "We have been informed by Miss Lyon and your other son that the suspected culprit of the attack on Halloween was Rayan Lyserian. Mr. James Potter has already told this to the school—"

Albus internally groaned as he lay on the bed. _Great._ Now the students were going to be after his blood for ruining Halloween by having an assassin after him. Why was the world so insensitive?

"—and Miss Elina Lyon told us that _the boy_ was the one who saved them and the school."

Albus immediately felt a bit better at the news that Elina had defended him, but his head was still throbbing. He tried to pry his eyes open, but his eyelids felt too heavy.

"For your information, _the boy_ has a name, and it's Albus," said Harry irritably. "Look, I need to find out as much as I can about what happened, and I don't you need you accusing him of being a freak that needs to be locked up like you've been going on about for the last few hours."

"You cannot blame me for being suspicious! If what Miss Lyon and Mr. James Potter say is true, _the boy_—Albus, I mean—hauled the entire contents of the Black Lake, enchanted it—how, I have no clue—and dumped it on that dark fire—a type of magical fire that hasn't ever been seen before, might I add. How could he possibly have done that? A thirteen-year-old boy! Even Voldemort, after decades of training, wasn't capable of such madness! Do you know how dangerous your son could be to society if he was set loose?

"And remember last year, Mr. Potter? Remember our discovery in the Magic Sensor room? We detected a dark essence—a new, fresh one. More powerful and dark than anything that we've ever seen before. It's definitely your son. There is no longer any doubt."

"Shut up," hissed Harry. "You don't have any proof—none at all! Stop pointing fingers! And if it wasn't for Albus, we'd all be dead."

"Ah, so you see my point," said Edgeworth.

"I don't give a _shit _about your point—"

"Ah, ah, ah! Let's keep the language civil; there's no need for you to get away with your temper, Mr. Potter," chided Edgeworth. "As I was saying, your son singlehandedly managed to save the school when your Aurors—who are all seasoned warriors, might I add—were unable to do anything."

"I know," sighed Harry. "He's an amazing boy. Better than anything I could have asked for. And I never wanted to say it, but I think Al is on his own."

"But you missed my point," chuckled Edgeworth.

Harry flared up again. "Didn't you hear me? I said that I don't give a rat's fart about—"

"My point," continued Edgeworth, interrupting Harry's rant, "is that your son is a miracle wizard, more powerful than anything other. In fact, I'm being too nice in calling him that. He's a freak, a menace, a danger to society if his power goes unchecked."

Harry furiously inhaled, evidently preparing to spew a fresh insult, but before he could get started, Madam Pomfrey came over with a vial of potion and poured some into Albus's mouth. He gulped, and strength flowed into his veins. He found enough energy to open his eyes and straightened up to see that he was surrounded on all sides by more than a dozen people. Many of the professors were among this group, and so were his father, Edgeworth, and several Aurors.

"GET OUT!" roared Madam Pomfrey, stamping her foot.

Nobody listened to her at all, so she gave up and returned to her sleeping quarters while Harry pulled a chair up to Albus's bed and sat down in it. "Hey, kiddo, how are you doing?" said Harry, a weak smile on his face.

"B-Better than I was before," Albus choked out, deciding to pretend that he hadn't heard any of the conversation between his father and Edgeworth. "Wh—what happened to them?"

Knowing that he meant Elina and James, his father said, "They're all right. They were released from the Hospital Wing earlier. But all your energy was exhausted, and Madam Pomfrey said that you had to rest and weren't supposed to be moved."

Edgeworth wasn't going to give Albus and Harry enough time to catch up, though. Fixing Albus with a cold glare, he said, "Miss Lyon and Mr. Potter told us that it was you who caused the wave. That was some seriously complicated magic that you used, Potter—magic that hasn't ever been seen before. In fact, as far as I know, a single wizard alone is not capable of magic at that level. Especially not a thirteen-year-old wizard."

"Could you leave, please?" said Harry nastily, turning to Edgeworth with a scowl. "All I want is to get Albus's version of what happened. He doesn't need to be accused of things he didn't do!"

Edgeworth scowled, too, but did not protest and stepped away respectfully.

Albus told the story from start to finish. "I saw the haunted house on fire, and Mr. Rigel, Mr. Doolite, and I went inside. I could make holes in the fire with my wand—I don't know why—and we made it inside. Mr. Rigel and Mr. Doolite got trapped somewhere, though. Are they okay?"

Harry nodded. "They got a bit..._wet_...when the flood from the wave that you caused came, but they're fine. The Hogwarts grounds had to be cleaned up a bit with magic, but all the water is back in the lake now." He indicated for Albus to continue.

"Then I found Elina and James... and I heard Rayan Lyserian. He did it. I don't know how he started that black fire, but it must have been a spell of his," said Albus.

"How did he get in?" demanded Tutterskope.

"I've been thinking about it, and I think I know how," murmured Harry unexpectedly.

"How?" they all asked at once, barely even giving Harry time to finish his sentence. Edgeworth spoke the loudest, a silent challenge in his glare as he regarded Harry.

"There are secret passageways leading into Hogwarts," began Harry quietly. "I remember from when I was at school. These secret passageways aren't blocked by the protective enchantments. It's possible that Rayan Lyserian is using one of these passageways."

"Like Sirius Black did many years ago?" asked Tutterskope slowly.

Harry nodded. "That's what I've been thinking for a while now. I'll order the Aurors to search the passageways right away."

"Do you know all of them, though?" asked Edgeworth skeptically.

Harry gave him a withering look. "Of course I do." After glaring at him for a couple seconds, he continued talking. "Hopefully we'll be able to catch him now. Al, you'll be safe before long."

Albus breathed a sigh of relief. His father knew what to do. The attacks from Rayan Lyserian would stop soon, wouldn't they?

After a few more minutes of giving talking in hushed whispers and sharing theories, all of them except for Albus began to filter out. "Wait!" he said before his father could leave with the rest. "Did you get my letter about what happened during the first event of the Colorful Competition?"

Harry nodded gravely. "To be honest, I don't know anything else about it. We've got no idea who might have jinxed that broomstick to buck you off, but we're looking into that. It's probably likely that it was Rayan Lyserian who did it. I'm not sure what you mean by Lyserian having two sides—I haven't heard anything about that. Hopefully when we catch him, we'll be able to figure it out. Anyways, you'll be getting your new broomstick soon, Al. I just sent it by owl, and it should arrive here any time now."

Albus grinned shyly up at his father. "Is it a Lightningbolt III?"

Harry winked. "You'll see, but you might want to bet on that."

Albus flopped back down on his pillow, waving goodbye to his father and imagining the dumbstruck look on James's face when he would spot Albus's new Lightningbolt III broomstick.

However, his good mood drained away as soon as he caught sight of his hands. They were scarred from the dark fire—and scars caused by Dark Magic could not be healed. He stared blankly as if hypnotized by the faint, barely-visible circular scars covering his hands and wrists, wondering whether his hands were the only things about him that had been scarred for life.

* * *

The moment he was released from the Hospital Wing, he was bombarded by suspicious stares and whispers. Feeling a bit lost and wondering how much the rest of the student body knew about who had enchanted the water of the Black Lake and levitated it to fall on top of the Hogwarts Haunted House, Albus tried to find Rose and Scorpius for information. Fortunately, he found them on the first floor, engaged in conversation with Nearly Headless Nick. Not quite sure what to do, Albus awkwardly waited behind a tapestry, out of sight, while Nick drifted away, his head wobbling dangerously as Scorpius shouted profanities after him and Rose merely looked embarrassed.

After Nearly Headless Nick was out of earshot, Albus slid out from behind the tapestry and walked towards his friends. "Hey... um... why were you talking to Nearly Headless Nick?"

Rose shot Scorpius a glare of pure venom. Albus shuddered, remembering how Rose had danced with Derlwin and Scorpius had danced with Petra on Halloween. The tension between them clearly hadn't abated yet. "All I wanted to do was talk to Scorpius in a civilized manner, but then he started yelling. Nick came over to see what was going on, and Scorpius exploded at him—"

"Only because you were being an idiot!" said Scorpius hotly.

"All I said was—"

"Your mouth was a little bit too busy swapping spit with a member of the Dark Side last night to say anything, Rose," said Scorpius bitterly.

Rose stared at him, shell-shocked. At last, she snapped to life and spluttered, "Swapping spit? EW!"

"My point exactly," said Scorpius smugly.

"Wait, wait, wait," said Albus, all thoughts of his own assassin troubles being pushed to a small part of his mind. "Go back to the part where Rose kissed a member of the Dark Side? Who exactly was this?"

"Derl-lose," grumbled Scorpius.

Albus turned on Rose, disgusted. "No way! Why? Where? When? _Why?_—or did I already ask that last one?"

Rose raised her head with dignity, though the action was wasted on Albus, who had already lost all respect for her. "It was at the Halloween Carnival," she answered dreamily.

Scorpius seethed, furious. Albus stared, disbelieving. "You," said Scorpius through tightly gritted teeth, "are the world's biggest idiot."

Rose flushed angrily. "It's not up to you to decide whether my decision to date Eric was good or bad—"

"It was bad. Very bad," interjected Scorpius. "Think for a moment. Use your brain—well, you don't have one, but pretend you do for a moment. _Why_ on earth are dating him?" Scorpius's voice cracked at the end of his sentence, and he looked down at the ground. Clearly, he wasn't only angry—he was hurt and confused, too. "Rose... he's a complete asshole. Even after how he's treated me and Albus—he literally kicked us around—you're still blind. He's a brainless bully! He's a Class A Jock-Jerk."

"Don't say that about him!" insisted Rose, who was near tears. "You don't know him!"

"I DON'T KNOW HIM?" bellowed Scorpius, his mood changing from dispirited to murderous in the space of two seconds. "I CAN'T _BELIEVE_ THIS!"

"WHY DO YOU CARE?" Rose yelled back, still fighting back tears. "Why does it matter to you?"

"He's going to mess you up!" said Scorpius, now fighting back tears himself. "I don't understand! I just don't, Rose! I thought we—you, me, and Albus—were friends! We put up with your friendships with the Gryffindors who hated us! But—but we thought—at least _I_ thought—that we weren't just some Slytherins that you could spy on and make fun of behind our backs!"

Rose looked horrified. "Scorpius, I never made fun of you. Never! Not you or Albus! How could you think that?"

"I don't know what to think since I JUST SAW YOU SNOGGING DERLWIN!" Scorpius's voice was so loud now that it was attracting attention from passersby.

"OH, GROW UP!" Rose shouted back, stamping her foot. "Just because he's my boyfriend doesn't mean I agree with everything he does or says!"

"YEAH, IT DOES MEAN THAT!" Scorpius hollered. He advanced towards her, but Albus, who had been stunned into silence this whole time, held a hand out to stop him.

"Hey! Stop! Okay, Rose made a really bad decision and started to date Derlwin. But we have more important things to worry about."

"Like what?" snapped Scorpius at the same time that Rose gave Albus a confused look.

Albus narrowed his eyes. "Um... the not-kissing-related accident on Halloween—you know, the big dark fire, maybe?" he said sarcastically.

"Oh," said Rose in a small voice. "I'm so sorry, Al. We completely forgot."

"Well, I'm fine," said Albus coldly. "Thanks for finally asking. But honestly, how does _anyone _forget something as big as the attack on Halloween? Unless there's snogging involved, of course. _Then_ chaos might take the backseat." His voice oozed with sarcasm.

"Look, we're sorry we forgot, okay?" said Scorpius irritably. "You don't have to make us feel guilty."

Albus chose to ignore him. "Something big happened on Halloween. To refresh your memory, I'm going to tell you what it is. First of all, the haunted house was set on fire. Second, I went inside and heard Rayan Lyserian. Third, I put out the fire using the water from the Black Lake—"

"Oh, so that was you?" asked Rose, sounding breathless. "That's what I suspected! I mean, we couldn't tell who was doing it from outside. Most of us thought some Aurors were doing it, but Scorpius and I were sure it was you."

"Yeah, the entire lake turned green, and there was this bright glow from coming from the inside of the haunted house," said Scorpius. "And let's see—who do we know that glows green before causing mass destruction?"

"Thanks for being so nice about it," said Albus, still oozing sarcasm. He understood that Scorpius wasn't in a good mood, but why did he have to take it out on Albus?

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "Well, at least I don't sugarcoat things like Rose does."

"I don't 'sugarcoat' things," snapped Rose. "But I don't ruin everybody's mood by opening my mouth, like _someone_ does—"

"Hey, cut it out!" barked Albus.

Scorpius and Rose shut up, though they continued to glare at each other.

"Okay, good, you've stayed civil for more than ten seconds. Now, what does the rest of the school think?" asked Albus, fearing the answer.

Scorpius sighed loudly, nervously smoothing down his already-slick hair. "It got around that Rayan Lyserian was behind it, and everyone knows that he was after you. People practically blame you for ruining Halloween."

Rose kicked Scorpius in the shins. "Come on! Couldn't you have sugarcoated _that_, at least?"

Albus groaned, but then shrugged it off. "It's not any worse than what I expected."

Keeping his head down, he walked to the Great Hall, Rose and Scorpius hot on his heels. Breakfast had just started, and the usual morning chatter filled the hall with an annoying buzzing noise. Automatically, Albus looked in the direction of the Gryffindor table. His gaze landed on Elina, who was sitting with a few older students and James. Albus stood at the doors to the Great Hall, wondering what to do. He really wanted to run to the Gryffindor table and fling his arms around her, but he was pretty sure that would earn him a punch and a couple of hexes from James.

"She's okay," Rose assured him. "She wanted to talk to you—you should go meet with her later or something."

Albus nodded at Rose in agreement and sat down at the Slytherin table with Scorpius. As he began to pile toast on his plate, he noticed that Scorpius was watching something that was happening at the Gryffindor table.

"Wha—?" Albus shut his mouth and followed Scorpius's line of vision to see Rose and Derlwin snogging, right in front of everybody.

Scorpius clenched his fork more tightly than was recommended. He looked slightly unhinged, and Albus immediately feared for his sanity. "Umm...," he said nervously.

An evil glint sparked to life in Scorpius's eye. He turned to Albus, looking half-crazed. "Remember Petra from Halloween night?"

"She's that fourth-year that asked you to dance, isn't she?" said Albus slowly, gulping down some toast.

"Well, I'm going to ask her to Hogsmeade," said Scorpius, the creepy grin still on his face.

"Uh..." Albus stared blankly. A moment later, he managed to force himself into speech. "B-But w-why?"

"If Rose can get a date, so can I," growled Scorpius, stabbing his omelet with his fork.

Albus stared some more. "So... that's it? You're just going to ask some Slytherin girl, today? Just to make Rose jealous?"

Scorpius nodded, a truly evil smirk distorting his features. "I can't wait to see what she'll say when she sees me in Madam Puddifoot's..."

"This isn't a good idea," said Albus quickly. "It's going to turn out badly—"

"Does it look like I care?" snapped Scorpius. "All I want is to strangle Derlwin—and _Rose_ while I'm at it!"

"Here! Eat!" Albus shoved a piece of toast into Scorpius's mouth and breathed a sigh of relief when Scorpius stopped raging about Derlwin and Rose and obediently began to chew it.

Once Scorpius had calmed down considerably, Albus said, "This is a disaster! I can't believe that she's dating Brainless Thug the First. And _you, _Scorpius—I can't believe that you've sunk to the level of wanting to ask random Slytherin girls on dates to get back at Rose!"

Scorpius was too busy glaring at Rose and Derlwin to hear a word of what Albus was saying. He was so preoccupied with staring at them, in fact, that his elbow was in his cereal bowl and he was dipping his toast into his goblet of orange juice.

At that moment, jerking all thoughts of Rose and Scorpius from everyone's mind, complete silence descended upon the Great Hall. To Albus's great surprise, his father was standing at the doors. Albus had thought that he'd left already.

But apparently not. With a sense of purpose, Harry strode towards the Gryffindor table, awed whispers surrounding him on all sides. Shocked, Albus watched as Harry tapped James on the shoulder, whispered something into his ear, and led him out of the Great Hall.

"Why does your father want to talk to your git of a brother?" asked Scorpius curiously, tearing out of his glare-fest with Rose at last.

Albus didn't even bother to answer. He was already halfway across the Great Hall, determined to find out what his father and James were up to. What was so much of a secret that his father could only talk to James? Albus felt a stab of jealousy, but shoved it away. There could be plenty of reasons. Nevertheless, he crept out of the Great Hall, keeping quiet so as not to alert his father and James to his presence.

They were standing away from the doors to the Great Hall so that they would be out of earshot, and both were speaking in hushed voices. Taking temporary residence behind a rather large and sniggering suit of armor, Albus strained his ears to hear what they were saying.

"James, I need the Map," his father was saying urgently. "I didn't want to ask you for it earlier, but the situation with the assassin has become even more urgent."

"B-But _I_ need it!" James blubbered incomprehensively, an expression of the utmost horror on his face.

"James, I'll give it back to you as soon as possible! It's extremely important that I keep an eye on it for the time being. Don't be difficult! This is about your brother, and aren't you grateful? He just saved your life!"

"_Everything_'s about him!" James raged. "Oh, and of course he saved my life by whipping his supposedly amazing super powers out of nowhere! And, _yup_, I'm supposed to be grateful and kissing his shoes now, right? What is he now, Snivellus the Superhero? _Oooh_, I know—someone should design a cape for him!"

Harry sternly began, "Don't call him Snivellus—"

But James paid him no mind and continued his rant, his voice rising with every syllable. "It's always poor Al _this_ and poor Al _that_! Al nearly dies every two minutes, everybody freaks out about the most recent mind-blowing bit of magic he did, then everyone starts going on about him and how powerful and unique and whatever else he is—and it's always Al Al Al AL _AL_!"

"James, calm down and stop acting immature!" Harry looked highly annoyed. "Your brother is in danger! Don't you care at all about what happens to him?"

James narrowed his eyes. "Do you want me to answer that, Dad?"

Harry took a deep breath, apparently trying to calm himself. "Just give me the Map, James!"

"Fine!" James snarled. "Take the stupid Map! And give it to your _noble, heroic favorite _son just like you gave him the stupid Invisibility Cloak and the even stupider Firebolt! Then give him whatever awards and whatever praise for being such a bloody brave hero! See if I care! You're just a traitor! How could you take the filthy _snake's_ side instead of _mine_?" James dug his hand into his pocket for a moment and then withdrew a disintegrating, unremarkable piece of old parchment. Giving his father one last disgusted look, he stalked back into the Great Hall, teeth gritted and fists clenched.

Harry stood there for a moment, taking off his glasses and rubbing his forehead as if trying to soothe a headache. He let out a long, exasperated sigh, then unfolded the piece of ancient parchment. He stared at it for a moment, drew out his wand, and pointed it at the aged parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Nothing happened that Albus could see, but Harry's eyes lit up as he looked at what he had wrongly called a 'Map'—because there was no way that this boring piece of parchment was anything but a boring piece of parchment, right?

Albus gawked at him, not sure what was going on. First of all, James had a thrown a (very childish) tantrum about Albus—and the jealousy radiating off him had been unmistakable. Secondly, his father was talking to a bit of old parchment. What was the world coming to? Then, as if it couldn't get any more confusing, Harry looked straight up at Albus, almost as if he knew that he was there.

_What?_ That made no sense. Albus, who was about as skinny as a stick, was perfectly well hidden behind the suit of armor (which had most likely been made for a very fat knight). Yet, though Albus was sure he could not be seen, Harry seemed to be able to see him completely. Why was that? Harry hadn't seen Albus before—he had been noticed only after scanning the piece of supposedly unremarkable parchment.

Harry began walking towards Albus, looking stern but still managing to grin. "Al, you can come out now."

Albus stopped breathing. _No way, _he thought. _There is absolutely, completely, utterly no way that Dad—_

"Al, stop kidding yourself. I know where you are, so there's no point in thinking otherwise."

Albus slowly crept out from behind the fat suit of armor, which was now sniggering louder than ever. "Hey," he said stupidly.

Harry quickly tucked the piece of parchment into a pocket inside his wizard robes and cocked an eyebrow. "Eavesdropping on your brother and me? Al, come on. There's a reason why I wanted to have a _private_ conversation."

Albus shuffled his feet nervously. "Uh... right. Sorry. So...um... how did you know I was here?"

Harry chuckled to himself. "A dad has his ways," he said, a genuine smile curving his handsome features for the first time in a long while.

"_James_ knows," said Albus accusingly.

The smile slid off his father's face like liquid. "You two need to _cut it out_ with the constant jealousy. It's getting ridiculous."

Albus pulled a very ugly scowl. "What's _he_ got to be jealous about, anyways? Has he temporarily forgotten that everybody loves him and worships the ground he walks on while he gets away with treating anyone he doesn't approve of like dirt?"

Harry sighed, rubbing his forehead again. As he did so, a strand of his hair was pushed aside, allowing Albus to see the scarlet lightning-bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. "You know what? I'm just not going to argue. You two are a lost cause. Anyways, I have to get back to the Auror Office. I came because I needed to get something from James—"

"A piece of falling-apart parchment," Albus elaborated.

"Yes, that," said Harry vaguely. He gave Albus a small wave with his usual "Constant vigilance!" and was off, down the hallway.

Albus stood there for a few seconds, contemplating what he had just seen. Was that piece of parchment a map as Harry and James had called it? But how? And how did Harry know that Albus was standing behind the suit of armor if he couldn't see him?

His head spinning, Albus stumbled back into the Great Hall in time to see a seething James plop down on the seat reserved for him at the head of the Gryffindor table. He slammed his fist down on the table in frustration, alerting the attention of everyone in the school. People clustered around him to ask what was wrong, and he was soon lost in a crowd of admirers.

Albus scurried over to the Slytherin table, took a seat, and glared at his toast with extraordinary venom. But before he could get lost in his self-pitying thoughts, the owls flew into the Great Hall through the windows. Their wings flapping and their beaks clutching letters and packages of all sizes and colors, the owls descended to the recipients of their letters.

But one particular bunch of owls drew everyone's eye. About a dozen owls were struggling with a very long and thin package, one that was wider on one side than the other. At once, they all knew what it was. The owls touched down in the middle of the Slytherin table, right in front of Albus, and detached themselves from the broomstick. To his surprise, he spotted his snowy owl Herwina among the other owls—a final confirmation that this package was indeed meant for him. With some trepidation, Albus reached towards the long, messily wrapped package. All of the Slytherins crowded around him, whispering.

He had lost his Firebolt, and his father had promised him a new broomstick. It had to be! A wide grin on his face, he ripped impatiently at the wrapping, tearing a hole in it to see a sparkling oak handle beneath. He stroked it, taking care not to leave any fingerprints. Written on the length of the handle was: _Lightningbolt III_.

Within five seconds, the news that Albus had gotten the best broomstick in the world had been passed around. A few curious Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had gathered around the broomstick, had seen the label, and had darted off to tell the rest of the school. Albus stood up and looked at James to see how he was taking it.

James didn't look angry. He merely looked hurt, betrayed, and was it—could it possibly be—_miserable_? For the first time, he seemed to be near tears. The perfect King of Hogwarts—the one boy who never made a mistake, always did everything right, and radiated confidence? The boy who was at the very zenith of all coolness and popularity? Miserable because of his jealousy at Albus—the loser of the school, the boy whose life was fraught with danger?

It made no sense that James would be jealous of him. None at all.

* * *

Albus did not enjoy the next few days. Rose and Scorpius were fighting, and Albus could not get them to reconcile no matter how hard he tried. Scorpius had gone and asked some girl named Petra Dylans to Hogsmeade, and she had accepted, evidently having no idea of all the trouble she was signing up for. Albus felt extremely sorry for her and had tried to warn her of the inevitable heartbreak, but Scorpius had dragged him away before Albus could successfully scare her away. Even worse, Rose was still attached to Derlwin, and she made that fact obvious by kissing him every chance she got.

It disgusted Albus. What had happened to the Rose he knew? Why was she suddenly so girly, so vain, so focused on images only? Why wasn't she listening to Albus and Scorpius—her best friends for more than two years? They knew that Derlwin was bad for her, but she seemed to become severely deaf whenever anything rude was said about her boyfriend.

Scorpius was taking it hardest. He couldn't look at Rose without getting a sickened look on his face and insulting her in the most creative ways he could think of. Rose retaliated back without too much trouble, and the two of them had started giant rows in the corridors. It was all Albus could do to stop them from killing each other. In about a day, he realized that Rose and Scorpius weren't just bickering; they weren't just annoyed with each other. They were truly _fighting_, and every time they looked at each other, their expressions were filled with disgust for the other.

Albus didn't know what to do. He and Scorpius were drifting apart from Rose as she began to hang out with her boyfriend and his jerk friends, and Scorpius was often gloomy and irritable, snapping at Albus for 'breathing so loudly that it was distracting' and 'being stupid' for accidentally dropping his textbook. Quite frankly, Albus didn't want to deal with this very volatile version of his best mate, so he gave Scorpius some space to let him calm down.

Unfortunately, this left Albus very alone. Without Rose and Scorpius, he felt lost and confused. They were always beside him—beside each other, for that matter—but now, they were as far apart as they could possibly be. Could it be true? Was their tightly-knit trio unraveling at last? Albus didn't want to believe it. Hoping against hope that Rose would grow a brain and maybe some shame and Scorpius would acquire some patience, he left them both alone to let them have some time to think everything over.

And that was why on Friday, two days before the Hogsmeade visit, Albus could be seen walking alone to Hagrid's hut. But before he could get there, he spotted a commotion near the Whomping Willow. To his utter shock, it was surrounded by Aurors. Taking swift strides towards the place of interest, Albus arrived there to see Ewan Tutterskope shouting out orders to the other Aurors. He was evidently assuming the place of leader among them, as he was leading Albus's protection.

"Head Auror Potter says that we will be able to enter the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack by pressing that knot on the tree trunk..."

Albus stood there for a moment, watching as one of the Aurors levitated a stick and jabbed it at a barely-visible knot near the roots of the violent tree. The tree stopped moving and froze as if it were made out of marble. After that, several Aurors cast Disillusionment Charms on themselves and slipped through the roots while a few remained outside, waiting. Did the Whomping Willow really lead to the Shrieking Shack, and were they doing a search of the secret passageway?

Albus decided to leave them to it. There was no point in bothering them when they were trying to help him. He made his way to Hagrid's hut, but stopped in his tracks.

_Crookshanks, _he realized, remembering that Lily's cat, Crookshanks II, had come from the Whomping Willow with a piece of Lyserian's cloak before Halloween. Had Crookshanks found a way through the secret passageway and into the Shrieking Shack, and did that mean that Rayan Lyserian was in Hogsmeade?

Albus struggled with himself for a moment. What he really wanted to do was to follow the Aurors into the Whomping Willow and help hunt Rayan Lyserian, but he couldn't. He had promised that he'd keep out of trouble. He owed both his father and himself that. Taking a deep breath, he stiffly continued to Hagrid's hut. Not sure whether he had made the right decision, he knocked on the door to the hut.

Before he could waste time thinking about it any longer, the door swung open to reveal Hagrid standing behind it. "Al!" he said jovially, sweeping Albus into the hut and slamming the door shut behind him. "Wha' a surprise! It's bin ages!"

"Yeah, sorry about not coming sooner," said Albus sheepishly, taking a seat at the large wooden table in the middle of the room.

"Where's Rosie an' Scorpius?" asked Hagrid, sounding puzzled.

"Um... I don't know," admitted Albus. "They're...er...fighting."

Hagrid sighed as he began to warm a kettle over the fire. "Ah... tha's too bad. Yeh know, yer dad, aunt, and uncle had a sorta similar problem in _their_ third year. But they pulled through it, and yeh will, too."

"Sure..." Albus trailed off lamely and began to pick at the rock cake that Hagrid had just brought him. He didn't want to be rude, but he was seriously considering telling Hagrid to get a new recipe—preferably one that did not include talons, feathers, or fangs.

"An' wha' a coincidence tha' yeh're here," said Hagrid, plopping himself into a chair with a grunt. The action caused the entire table to shake and Albus to choke on a talon in his rock cake.

When he had recovered, he asked, "What do you mean by 'a coincidence'?"

"Well, James was jus' here a mo' ago," said Hagrid offhandedly. "Anyway, I need ter go ter the greenhouses in order ter get some of tha' squirmin' seaweed for me fire crabs. Finish up tha' cake, will yeh?"

Albus pushed the plate of inedible rock cake away from him. "James? Why was he here? Was he alone?"

"Jus' came ter check in on me. No, he wasn't alone. He was with Elina, he was," said Hagrid, stuffing an entire rock cake into his mouth and gulping it down, not even bothering to chew.

Albus's jaw dropped in horror. "James was with... _Elina_? And the two of them were... _alone_?"

"Yeah," said Hagrid, not noticing that all the color had drained from Albus's face. "They were going ter check out the Griffins an' wanted permission ter. Eh—where are you goin'?"

Albus didn't bother to answer until he was already at the door. "You said you had to go to the greenhouses, right? Well, you can. I've got to—er—check something. Thanks for having me!" Without looking back, he sprinted down the steps and over to the paddock by the Forbidden Forest, his heart thumping hard in his chest.

And there they were. James and Elina were milling outside the paddock, completely alone. Elina was sitting on the fence, swinging her legs and pulling her coat tight around her. James had his elbows on the fence next to her and was leaning on it, grinning and talking to her. The chilly wind made their hair whip around their faces, and the cold of it made them draw instinctively closer.

The scene was so disgustingly sweet and romantic that it made Albus want to retch. His fists clenched, he stalked down to the paddock containing the Griffins, determined to break up this cozy little meeting of two. As he neared them, he could hear what they were saying more properly.

"Come on, take a ride with me on the Griffin!" James was coaxing. "It'll be fun! Heck, it'll be brilliant. I did it last year, and Godric over here took me all over the lake and the grounds. It'll be even better when it's snowing."

Elina's face was flushed pink, though this might have been because of the cold. "James, I really don't think—"

James interrupted her. "Oh, stop being such a chicken! I'll make sure you don't fall!"

"She said," growled Albus, finally making his presence known, "that she didn't want to go. Didn't you hear her?"

James and Elina froze in shock before slowly turning their heads to look at him. "Al!" squeaked Elina, gripping the edge of the fence so hard that her knuckles went white.

"What are you doing here?" barked James, looking sour.

"I could ask you the same thing," said Albus coldly.

"We're just here to celebrate the first snowfall of the season," said Elina quickly, forcing her voice to sound bright and peppy even though she was clearly not happy. "See?" She gestured wildly at the lightly falling snow while James and Albus regarded each other like two circling hawks that were waiting for the precise moment to strike.

"Yeah, and you weren't invited, in case you didn't figure that out," sneered James, moving closer to Elina.

Before Albus could retaliate, Elina nervously put in, "You can stay if you want. It's fine."

James didn't seem to agree. He grabbed Elina's hand and helped her down from the fence, causing Albus to bristle. "There's only room for two on the Griffin, you know," added James nastily, his hand still firmly grasping Elina's hand. She tried to pull away, looking guiltily over at Albus, but James wouldn't let her.

Albus gritted his teeth. "Oh, it's all right," he said, his tone as frosty as the snowflakes. "I can ride one, too."

"That's right, you're great at it," said Elina, managing to pull up a weak smile despite the almost-tangible tension crackling in the air.

"I can go upside down on them," said James loudly.

Albus gulped. "_I_ can, too," he lied a moment later.

"Prove it," challenged James, his eyes narrowed.

"I will, then," snarled Albus, his eyes also narrowed.

"Nobody has to prove anything!" said Elina, her voice suddenly very high. "Flying upside down on the Griffin? That's dangerous! We don't have to fly or anything, we can just stay here—"

"You're bluffing," snorted James, not paying any attention to Elina's words. He leapt over the fence and stood arrogantly beside one of the Griffins. "You can't fly upside down on it. You're nowhere near good enough."

"_You're_ bluffing," snapped Albus, leaping over the fence as well.

"Nobody's bluffing about anything!" insisted Elina, the pink in her cheeks vanishing to be replaced by white. "Look, guys, let's just go back inside—"

James paid her no attention and clambered onto the nearest Griffin. Albus strode over to another Griffin—the one he recognized to be Godric, the very Griffin that he had ridden on during the first Care of Magical Creatures lesson—and put his foot on the crook of its wing, using it to hoist himself onto its back. Godric the Griffin squawked in protest and ruffled its feathers, but Albus was too busy glaring at James to care.

"Stop this!" Elina looked between them rapidly, terrified. "You'll get hurt! Don't do this!"

"Don't worry," said James, leaning back from his perch on the Griffin's back. "_I_ don't get hurt. Little Al, though, has a nasty habit of collapsing all over the place."

Albus was so furious that steam nearly spewed from his ears. He retaliated by kicking Godric in the sides, signaling for it to begin flying. The fifteen-foot wings on either side of him flapped open, and Godric hopped over the fence in one fluid motion, using its wings to balance itself. James, irritated that Albus had gotten a head start, goaded his own Griffin into action.

"Wait! Are you thinking this over?" said Elina frantically, running to block Albus's path.

_No, _thought Albus dryly. But there was no way that he was letting James get away with insulting him.

James's Griffin was now over the fence, and Elina switched tactics. "Stop it!" she snapped. "This is just stupid! What're you trying to prove?"

"I'm just trying to prove that Snivellus over there is a lying, cheating piece of scum," James explained smoothly.

"_You're _the lying, cheating piece of scum!" Albus all but roared.

"Wow, what a genius comeback," taunted James. "You should write a book on them."

Albus, who had decided to block his brother's voice out, had already decided to respond by instructing Godric to get moving. The Griffin began running across the grounds, its mismatched paws and talons barely brushing the ground as it ran faster and faster. The cold winter wind rushed past Albus, causing the hairs on his neck to stand on end and giving him goosebumps. James had caught up to him, pushing his own Griffin to the limit.

"Make sure you don't hurt the Griffins!" warned Elina, her voice sounding far away.

"Funny how she's more worried about the birds now than she is about us," snorted James.

Albus ignored him, focusing instead on forcing Godric into flight. The wings began to flap, using the air to lift the Griffin off the ground. The ill-assorted feet pushed off the dirt, and Godric let out a squawk of protest as Albus leaned forward and strained the half lion, half eagle creature to flap its wings even harder. James appeared to be doing the same thing, goading his own Griffin into flying as hard as it could by shouting at it. They climbed the sky quickly, managing to keep up to each other by pestering their Griffins.

"HEY! IDIOTS!" Elina called from far below, nothing but a tiny dot on the ground. "COULD YOU _PLEASE_ STOP ACTING LIKE CAVEWIZARDS FIGHTING OVER A PIECE OF MEAT AND GET DOWN HERE?"

Both James and Albus blushed at her words, realizing that there was some truth in them. But James, who was still determinedly ignoring Elina's good reasoning, grabbed some of the feathers at the neck of the Griffin and yanked them to the right, forcing the Griffin to turn over in the air on its side. Albus, who _also_ was ignoring Elina's good reasoning, did the same. Godric did not seem happy about it, but it did as its rider willed it to.

To Albus's shock, he was now almost upside down. The view was both exhilarating and terrifying. He could see the white, fluffy fields and the gorgeous snow-capped mountains at a distance. The tips of the towers of the castle were covered with snow, and small dark specks that were probably students were scurrying on the fresh snow. From his nearly-upside-down viewpoint, everything looked tilted, at an unnatural angle.

"I told you I could fly upside down!" shouted Albus, clutching onto Godric the Griffin for dear life while James chuckled from somewhere to his left.

"Yeah... but can you do _this_?" James guided the Griffin right-side up again. When his Griffin was flying straight and flat, he shakily got up, now standing on the Griffin's back.

Albus stared, shocked and grudgingly impressed.

"JAMES!" gasped Elina from below. Her voice sounded faint due to the distance, even though she was clearly screaming at the top of her voice. "WHAT THE _HELL_ ARE YOU DOING? ARE YOU TRYING TO _KILL_ YOURSELF?"

"Excited yet?" James shouted into the sky, sounding breathless. He didn't seem scared at all.

"EXCITED?" shrieked Elina from below. "_Excited_? Is that how you describe it? What about _terrified_?"

James gave a loud _whoop_ of assent, throwing his head back and still managing to stay steady on the Griffin's back.

Albus, knowing that he could do just as much—if not more—gritted his teeth against the gale of wind and used Godric's back to help him stand up. Even though the icy gale was as painful as knives slicing into his skin and he was shivering due to the snowflakes occasionally landing on his skin, there was _no way_ that he was letting James get away with being better. He held his hands out on either side of him, trying to balance himself as he stood up on Godric's back. The Griffin looked indignant, but Albus ignored its angry squawks.

"OH NO, OH NO!" Elina was saying from the ground. "I can't look—I can't look—I can't look—!" Albus squinted at the dot that resembled her to see that her hands appeared to be covering her face.

"Are you going to try a backflip next?" sneered Albus, smirking and turning his attention back to James, trying not to focus on the cold.

James gulped loudly, clearly not wanting to do a backflip. Fortunately, neither did Albus. Both of them flopped back down on the backs of their Griffins and directed them towards the ground. Exhausted, the Griffins shuddered to a stop outside the paddock. James smoothly slipped down first and leaned against the fence in a self-satisfied manner, while Albus stumbled down from his perch and shakily stood there. Terrified, they both slowly turned to look at Elina.

She was almost breathing fire. She stood there, glaring furiously, as if thinking of all the swear words she wanted to say to them but was too nice to. Finally, when she seemed to be done with her glaring and had silently blown off all her steam, she sagged with relief. "Okay," she said, sounding tired. "_Now_ can one of you please explain why you did that?"

Albus and James looked accusingly at each other. In all honestly, neither of them could remember the reason why they had gone on a daring ride on Griffins. Perhaps it had something to do with impressing Elina and proving that he was better than his brother. Albus wracked his brain for an answer, but didn't come up with something to say that didn't sound completely stupid, so he stayed silent.

"Want to come on a ride with me?" James said suddenly, acting as though he had not heard a word of what she had previously said.

Elina stared at James, shell-shocked, while Albus choked on his breath. Before Elina could respond, Albus said to her in a voice that was louder than usual, "Um... if you want to take a ride on a Griffin, you'll go with _me_, right—not _him_?"

Elina went completely white. "Actually," she began, plastering a very strained smile on her face, "I'm freezing, and I'm going to go back inside..." She turned speedily on the spot, apparently desperate for a quick escape.

"Come on, come with me!" urged James, putting out a hand to stop her from getting any further away. "If you're cold, you can have my jacket. I have another on underneath—"

"Wait, Elina! If you don't want to take a ride, we can go back to the library and start on that Transfiguration essay," suggested Albus. "And by 'we,' I mean only Elina and me, not _you_, James," he added nastily, a moment later.

Elina, if possible, paled even more at the hostility between them.

"I can help her with a Transfiguration essay better than you can!" James barked, fixing Albus with a death glare.

"I don't need help with Transfiguration right now, sorry!" squeaked Elina. "Actually, I'll go see Hagrid!"

"He's gone to the greenhouses," said Albus quickly.

"Uh... I'll go speak to D—Professor Irving about the Potions project," Elina amended.

"I'm your partner," Albus reminded her. "Maybe I should come, too—"

"Oi! Give her some space!" James snarled. When he turned to Elina, his gaze softened. "When you're done, you can find me—"

"Hey!" protested Albus, cutting James off midsentence. "When you're done talking to Irving, if you want to see me in the library or something—"

"Who said she wanted to see _you_?" said James indignantly.

Before either Albus or Elina could respond, the ground shifted beneath them. All of them froze, their mouths halfway open.

"Um... what was that?" asked Elina, her eyes widening.

The ground rumbled even louder, and the Griffins squawked, disturbed by the movement. Godric and James's Griffin both took flight, and several of the Griffins in the paddock followed them into the air.

"That," said James slowly, "doesn't look good."

Albus had grabbed Elina by the arm and was quickly backing away. James caught up to them, not even protesting at the sight of Albus holding Elina's arm, clearly too anxious to get away to care at the moment. Then, without warning, the ground gave another threatening roar and shifted even more drastically. The last Griffins remaining in the paddock took flight at once. "RUN!" bellowed Albus, causing Elina and James to jump to life and tear across the grounds at full speed, kicking up fresh snow as they ran.

They couldn't get very far. A rocky wall rose up from the ground, making a deep rumbling noise that sent shivers down Albus's back. They were trapped, unable to proceed any further away. Having nowhere else to go, Albus led the way back to the now-empty paddock.

There was silence as they stood there, looking at each other. "Is it gone?" asked Elina.

Albus's response was so quiet that he could barely be heard. "Elina, James, get out of here. It's Rayan Lyserian again. He must be staying in Hogsmeade, but he must have left and come here because the Aurors were poking around."

James stared at him. "_What_? Lyserian? The Aurors? Hogsmeade? Again, _what_?"

Albus continued speaking as if he hadn't heard James. "He's after me. You need to get away from me, or you'll get hurt. Maybe the rock wall will you let through if I'm not with you! Run away. Now!" Albus's voice was louder now, more convincing.

James started to sprint across the grounds again, but Elina stayed by Albus's side.

"Go!" Albus begged her.

"No," said Elina stubbornly. "No _way _am I leaving you here alone!"

James stopped in his tracks when he realized Elina wasn't with him and jogged back. "We've got to go! You heard him!" he urged, tugging on Elina's sleeve.

Elina shook him off, looking indignant. "No! Are you saying that we just leave him here to face Lyserian alone?"

"Yes!" said both James and Albus at the same time.

"Go get help," Albus urged her, trying a different tactic. "Get the Aurors! They're by the Whomping Willow, I think. It'll be fine! You can't be here, Elina! I'm not risking it again."

Elina bit her lip. "Al, I-I—"

She was cut off by a deafening gurgling noise. Albus looked down to see that the ground had turned into muddy mush. It bubbled ominously underneath their shoes, slowly sucking them in. Elina was the fastest to act. She hoisted herself onto the fence with surprising agility, pushing off the ground, and pulled James and Albus up beside her just before they could get stuck permanently.

But the danger was far from being over. Right in front of them, demented figures rose up from the ground like bizarre mud-made plants, quickly taking the shapes of humans. Nearly fifty of them circled the now-empty paddock, their faces and minds seemingly blank. They were sculptures given life, earthen puppets being controlled by their master.

James's breathing was ragged. "What do we do?" he hissed. "If you kill us, Snivellus, I'll kill you!"

"Good luck with that, Gryffindork," Albus spat back.

"Stop it!" Elina wailed. "We have to distract those—those _things_ long enough to get—"

The Terraxes advanced, cutting her off midsentence.

"_REDUCTO MAXIMA_!" shouted James at once, blasting several of the Terraxes into bits with one spell and causing mud to splatter on the three students.

"It won't work!" said Albus, rubbing some mud out of his eyes just in time to see the Terraxes reforming at top speed, their muddy limbs reattaching themselves to their bodies.

"Look!" gasped Elina, pointing at the ground. It was rising higher and higher, threatening to cover the fence, the only safe spot left. Elina stood up, managing to balance herself and keep her feet out of the mud. Albus and James soon followed, though nowhere near as gracefully.

"I've got an idea," said Albus all of a sudden, teetering dangerously on the fence. "_Sculpo semitam!" _He whipped his wand down hard, and a crack split the air. A path was carved in the sea of gooey mud, giving them a way out. The three of them stumbled off the fence and took the rapidly closing path, attempting to outrun the Terraxes that were hot on their heels.

They were almost to the rock wall when an even worse gurgling noise reached their ears. Jagged rocks sprung up from the ground like bizarre plants, nearly skewering them. At that moment, the rocky wall crumbled, revealing a dozen Aurors, their wands raised, standing behind it.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Potter," said Tutterskope calmly, looking at Albus, "but it appears that we may have accidently caused Rayan Lyserian to attack you. He was staying in the Shrieking Shack, and I must admit that we chased him out and most likely caused him to come here."

There was a roar so loud that it tore at Albus's eardrums. A great whirlpool appeared in the mud, one that moved so fast that it splattered mud everywhere. Out of the mud storm came a tall man with brilliantly golden eyes, his blackish brown cloak billowing around him.

"_How very irritating," _hissed Rayan Lyserian. "_You disturbed my nap." _He snapped his fingers, and the blockade of Terraxes shot forward, their terrifying, blank eyes glowing slightly.

"_Duro!" _shouted Albus, turning the Terraxes into stone and preventing them from coming closer.

Rayan Lyserian narrowed his eyes. He waved his hand, causing muddy waves to come to life around them. With another sweep of his arms, the waves advanced on them. The Aurors scattered, all taking different paths towards the assassin. Albus and Elina were grabbed by Rigel, and James was grabbed by Doolite.

"Come on," growled Rigel. "We have to get you out of here!"

"I'm not going anywhere," said Albus indignantly. "You can't get rid of him without me!" He jerked out of Rigel's grip and charged at Rayan Lyserian, an idea forming in his brain.

Elina wasn't going to let him go alone. "AL!" she shouted, her eyes widening as he neared Lyserian. She too tore herself away from Rigel and followed Albus, desperate.

Unfortunately, Albus was too focused on his goal to notice that she was with him. At the last moment, he changed direction and headed towards the Forbidden Forest. His idea had to work...

As predicted, Rayan Lyserian stopped pelting the Aurors with rocks and mud and changed course to follow Albus into the Forbidden Forest. Albus pushed his legs harder, but then realized that there was a second pair of footsteps alongside his. He halted in his tracks, causing Elina to bump into him.

"What—are—you—doing—here?" Albus said through gritted teeth.

"I wasn't going to let you go alone!" Elina told him passionately, her amazing eyes blazing.

Albus inhaled angrily, but couldn't find the words to reply. Luckily for him, he didn't say anything. Rayan Lyserian had arrived with a bang. A muddy tornado whirled around him, rocks, plants, and other debris caught in the furious maelstrom around him.

"Get back!" Albus shouted, holding out his arms in front of her. Desperate, he tried to call forth his powers. Though they had shown up just at the right time in the past, he simple couldn't order them to show themselves.

Rayan Lyserian walked towards them torturously slowly, every footstep that he took resonating through the forest. He seemed to be amused. "_So weak. Unbelievably weak."_

Albus clenched his fists. "Say that again," he said, his voice deadly.

Rayan Lyserian merely chuckled before raising his palms. The trees all around him uprooted and went rolling, heading straight at Albus and Elina.

Something changed in Albus's eyes. They glinted, the irises turning into a shade of unnatural neon green. The darkness slumbering inside him awoke at once, sending a surge of energy through his veins. He put a hand out, and a pulsing green shield burst from his palm, making a protective dome around him and Elina. The trunks of the trees skimmed the shield, leaving the two of them unharmed.

Elina's eyes were as wide as saucers. "_Woah_," she said breathlessly.

There wasn't time for Albus to say anything to her. Rayan Lyserian was on the move again. The makeshift earthen tornado around him spun at an impossible speed as he propelled towards them. The gears in Albus's brain were moving faster and faster, and his idea resurfaced. He hesitated before grabbing Elina's hand and bringing her close to him.

"Get your first friend," he whispered, his lips brushing her ear.

For a moment, Elina looked completely confused. Then understanding flooded her eyes, and she nodded. She pulled away from him and went sprinting into the trees, her hair flying behind her. Albus, his heart thumping hard in his chest, turned back to Lyserian, wondering whether he'd sent Elina to her death.

Lyserian, fortunately, wasn't looking at Elina. His blazing golden eyes were focused only on Albus, whose powers were still active within him. He raised his wand, and the symbols scratched into the blood-red wood lit up, glowing the same unnatural green of his eyes. With a noise like a whip crack, emerald green lightning erupted from the tip of his wand, crackling through the air lethally, heading straight at Lyserian. A flash of worry crossing his expression, he pulled up a wall of rocks, but they were blasted away by the magical tendrils of lightning from Albus, who was unrelenting. Lyserian was thrown to the ground, all the breath smacked out of him.

The Aurors came flooding onto the scene, shooting spells from their wands. They stopped in their tracks, shocked at the spectacle taking place in front of them. Albus, his eyes cold and merciless, was advancing on the seemingly-unconscious Lyserian. Tutterskope saw Lyserian stir first, but before he could shout out a warning, Lyserian was back up on his feet.

Albus, taken by surprise, was unprepared for Rayan Lyserian's next move. With a yell loud enough to shatter glass, Lyserian pushed his hands out in front of him. The ground in front of Albus turned to hard rock and rose up in front of him. Before he could even comprehend what had happened, the wall of rock slammed into him with the force of a train, blasting him backwards.

There he lay, broken and in pain, all the powers drained from him. The Aurors tried to get to him to help him, but were held back by Rayan Lyserian, who was creating rock walls all around the two of them.

"_Is that the best you can do_?" jeered the assassin. "_And here I thought I would be getting a better challenge_."

Albus tried to spew out an insult, but found himself incapable of speech.

"_I honestly don't know what we're so worried about," _continued Rayan Lyserian in his rough, hateful voice. "_One thousand years, we've waited with baited breath for the one who was predestined to stop us. Here he comes along, and gets beaten by nothing but dirt!"_

Albus, weak and exhausted, tried to push himself up and confront Lyserian face-to-face instead of face-to-foot as they were now, but was unable to find the energy. Lyserian leered over him, victorious.

"Why don't you kill me, then?" Albus croaked out at last.

Lyserian chuckled to himself. "_I have to stay within the job description for an assassin-turned-evaluator. Very annoying, I know. You'd just love to have me end it for you, wouldn't you? There's no point living a half-life like you do."_

"W-What d-do you mean?" Albus spluttered, not sure whether he had heard properly.

"_You are a monster. You were _born _a monster. You were created to be the perfect killer, and only that. You are destined to die once your purpose is over. This purpose? You'll be _wishing _you were dead when you fulfill it."_

"No..." Albus couldn't think. "Y-You're lying..." His head was spinning. He was pretty sure some of his bones had broken and that he was bleeding somewhere, and the pain had caught up with him.

Just as he was prepared to drift off into unconsciousness, he heard music. It was a wonderful, uplifting melody, one that he associated with happiness and contentment. On the very corner of his vision came a bright blue blur, one that lit up the whole area.

An expression of utmost fear spread of Rayan Lyserian's features. He backed away, terrified as the Sapphire Unicorn bounded towards him. Albus craned his neck to see that the Sapphire Unicorn wasn't alone. Riding on her back sidesaddle was a radiant girl who was glowing just as blue as her steed. The Sapphire Unicorn and her rider shone brighter and brighter, and Rayan Lyserian fled. The rock walls and the Terraxes sunk into the ground, leaving silence in their wake. The Aurors surged forward, but were unable to catch him.

Elina hopped down from the Sapphire Unicorn's back and kneeled down next to Albus. "How did you know that'd scare him away?" she asked, beaming at him.

Albus let out a chuckle that immediately turned into a gasp of pain due to his broken ribs. At last, he choked out, "Lucky guess?"

* * *

**Author's Note: Yeah, I'm alive. Why did I not update this? Well, I have THE best reason/excuse in the universe. A virius infected my computer! (In fact, my family has two computers, and both of them were infected! Ugh! And I had files on both!) And EVERY SINGLE ONE of my files were deleted. EVERY SINGLE ONE! Did I mention that ALL of my files were GONE, like M.I.A.? So then, I freaked out. My dad decided that NOBODY was allowed to touch the computers for a billion weeks, so I continued freaking out. Then I had to attend a new school, which made me freak out even more since I knew NOBODY at the stupid place and looked like an idiot eating lunch outside the library for a week before somebody had the shame to invite me to sit with them! Don't you feel so sorry for me at this point?**

**You should.**

**Anyways, I finally got my hands on the computer (now good as new, meaning EMPTY OF ALL FILES) and slowly began to rewrite this chapter. Oh, what_ fun_! (But it wasn't.) So, sorry if it sucked. It probably did because I was groaning my way through it and trying to remember what I'd written about certain events, like, two frickin thousand years ago. I also don't have my plot outline, and since I haven't looked at Albus for a month, I'm still wracking my brain to remember what the heck I was writing about.**

**So, sadly, I don't know how it's looking for Albus Potter. I will NOT quit this- I will keep fighting until the end, heck yeah! But honestly, I can't promise an update anytime soon. I'm going to get rid of the once a week schedule because, though I was somewhat ahead when the danged virus declared war on my poor files, now I'm not a single letter ahead of you! I can't finish 10K words a week, especially without my plot outline. And I haven't written Albus for a long time, so my writing is all out of whack.**

**But I will be victorious! I'm not quitting this, because I love writing this too much. Once I get into the swing of things, maybe you'll get your once-a-week updates back. For now, I'm gonna estimate a month between updates.**

**Yeah. Sorry. At least one good thing came out of this: I have now developed a deep, burning, passionate hatred for viriuses and will devote my life to eradicating them from this universe! I will set Albus and James on them! Those two totally hot guys will destroy those pesky viruses without any trouble! ;)**

**Okay, so basically, nothing good came out of this.**

**-Crystalline Iridescentia**

**P.S. The next chapter should be something to look forward to. (Er... I THINK so, at least. I can't remember my plot outline very well, but I think that the plot of the entire series gets rolling in the next chapter. I think...)**

**P.P.S. Sorry again!**


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